Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 22-year-old Christian Gillie of Buffalo was sentenced by Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case to 20 years to life on the charge of Murder in the Second Degree, 25 years on the charge of Manslaughter in the First Degree, and 18 years on each count of Burglary in the First Degree. All sentences will run concurrently.

On August 9, 2016, at approximately 2:00 a.m., the defendant broke into the residence of 23-year-old Robert Wheeler of Lackawanna and fatally stabbed him inside his Johnson Street home. The defendant was arrested nearby by Lackawanna Police.

The defendant was found guilty on four charges by a jury in January 2018.

DA Flynn commends the Lackawanna Police Department for their thorough investigative work.

Colleen Curtin Gable, Chief of DA Flynn’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Nathanael C. Kapperman of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau prosecuted the case.