A New Bedford man was found guilty in the murder of a former Fairhaven School teacher.

Gregg Miliote, a spokesman with the Bristol County District Attorney's Office said that 38-year-old Joshua J. Silva was convicted Wednesday afternoon of First Degree murder and armed robbery, connected to the October 2013 homicide of 69-year-old Joyce Howland in Fairhaven.

The verdict was rendered shortly after noon on Wednesday in Fall River Superior Court following six hours of deliberations over a two day period.

Silva was an an employee of Fairhaven Lumber at the time of the homicide and was working as part of a two-man work crew insulating the attic in Howland’s Hamlet Street home in October, 2013.

Miliote says Silva entered Howland’s home on October 14 stole jewelry and killed Howland by slicing at her throat with a sharp instrument.

Howland's body wasn't discovered until the next day when a concerned friend went to her home to check on her well-being.

Following the announcement of the guilty verdict Superior Court Judge Robert T. Kane sentenced Mr. Silva to serve life in prison with no possibility of future parole.

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