Life in prison for man found guilty of strangulation

GILMER — An Upshur County man high on meth last year, was convicted Thursday of strangling a woman. According to our news partner KETK, Joshua Verhoef, 39, was sentenced to life in prison. Verhoef was arrested last August after the victim was able to break away from him and run to a neighbor’s home, who called 911. Police met the woman and saw she had multiple injuries over her body. Verhoef was arrested for possession of meth one week before he assaulted the woman. Verhoef had 23 prior criminal convictions, including multiple felonies. A seven-man, five-woman jury found him guilty after 20 minutes of deliberation. Thirty minutes later they sentenced him to life in prison.