New Jersey man convicted in 1989 Philadelphia murders

A New Jersey man was convicted Monday and sentenced to life in prison in the deaths of two Philadelphia women more than a quarter-century ago.

Rudolph Churchill, 54, of Paulsboro, New Jersey, was convicted of first-degree murder and weapons charges but acquitted of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/1OcwLkn) reported.

Churchill was charged in the March 1989 rape and killing of Ruby Ellis, 19, whose body was found in an abandoned car, and in the April 1989 slaying of Cheryl Hanible, 33, whose body was found in a burned-out bar.

Authorities said DNA tests in 2013 linked Churchill to the slayings of the women, whom a prosecutor called "perfect victims" -- poor and in need of drugs to feed addictions. The defense argued the DNA link was tenuous, saying it wasn't found on either body, and was compromised by the handling of other evidence that has since been lost.

Before his sentencing, Churchill, who was born in East Orange, New Jersey, described spending a dozen years in foster care as a child before he returned to live with his mother in 1972.

"One thing my mother instilled in me was to always be a gentleman," Churchill said.

"Through all my years of addiction and burglaries and whatever shortcomings I had, I never hurt anybody, and I didn't kill those women."

Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastasi said the sentences for murder will run consecutively and she added five to 10 years for the weapons convictions, which involved the twine and shoelace used to strangle the women.

After the verdict, Churchill's mother, Anna Sheard, offered condolences to Catherine McCants, one of Hanible's sisters, saying she was "glad you are finally able to get some closure." McCants thanked Sheard and said the family bore her no ill will.

"We all waiting so long, so long for this," McCants tearfully said later.

Another sister, Louise Hanible, who disputed the description of her sister as a drug-addicted prostitute, said, "Do you see how God works? This is the same day our mother died, and he has brought us to justice."

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