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A jury found Robert S. Christie, 37, of Trenton, New Jersey, guilty in the first-degree murder of Joshua McRae back in October, prosecutors said.
Police found the body of McRae, 31, also of Trenton, on the shoulder of I-295 near the I-95 interchange early on Jan. 19, 2020, Daily Voice reported. Prosecutors said he had been shot five times.
Investigators later found that McRae, Christie, and two other men had visited Murphy’s Beef and Ale in Bristol Township the night before, according to the DA's Office. McRae was sitting in the backseat of his own SUV on the drive home when he "made a drunken comment that Christie took as disrespectful," authorities said.
Christie, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, turned around and shot him multiple times before dragging the 31-year-old's body out of the car and onto the highway shoulder, prosecutors said.
He tried to shoot McRae again on the ground but his gun was empty, according to investigators.
Christie, who the DA's Office says is an "admitted Blood gang member," had argued at trial that he killed McRae in self-defense. Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher W. Rees countered that Christie was a "man of violence who has made crime his business."
In addition to the first-degree murder rap, Christie was convicted of flight to avoid apprehension, hindering apprehension, possession of an instrument of crime, and abuse of a corpse, the DA's Office said.
Before Christie's sentencing Tuesday, one of McRae's daughters called her father's murder "a nightmare that became reality." His sister told the court she was "thankful for the detectives and prosecutor in Bucks County for finding justice for (her) brother."
In addition to the life sentence, Christie was given a second, consecutive term of 12-60 months, prosecutors added.
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