Students

Louisville Man Gets 25 Years in Prison for Sullivan Student’s Death

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Gregory O'Bryan, a Louisville man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after entering a guilty plea of murdering and sexually abusing the corpse of Andrew Compton, a Sullivan University student.  O'Bryan will qualify for parole in 17 years.

According to the Courier-Journal, on Monday, in Jefferson Circuit Court, 43-year-old O'Bryan, pleaded guilty to one count of abuse of a corpse, two counts of tampering with physical evidence and entered an Alford plea to the murder charge.

He admitted to have given the teen, alcohol, tied him up with electrical wires before having sex with the boy. Compton is claimed to have fallen unconscious and died. Plus, he also admitted to having sex with the corpse and placed it in a TV box and tossed it in a Highland dumpster. The body has not yet been traced by the police.

"Justice was done," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Lisa Cartier Giroux said. "... I hope he serves every single day of his sentence. What this case shows is that, even if you try to hide evidence of what you did, we will go after you and ultimately we will bring you to justice.

"The way Andrew's slim dead body was treated was barbaric, cruel, disturbing (and) inhumane," Angela Compton, the mother of the teen said. "I cling to the hope that his spirit had already left his little life's body and he did not suffer the experience."

Angela said that O'Bryan lied to the family, saying that Compton left his apartment fine that night.

"You are going to have numerous years to contemplate what you have done," Angela said. "....and hopefully take responsibility for the sins you have committed. I was not even able to say goodbye to him.... There's not a day that goes by that we don't think about Andrew."

According to experts, if O'Bryan was convicted at trial, he could have faced life imprisonment.

O'Bryan told police that both of them were very drunk on Oct. 28 and he thought Compton's neck was broken while they were having sex in an unusual position.

"I looked up and he was dead," O'Bryan said. He further said that he tried to breathe life into Compton, but failed.

He claims to have wrapped Compton's body with a rug and clothes and placed him in the trunk of his car before disposing the body in a garbage bin next to Our Lady of Peace psychiatric hospital near Bellarmine University.

 "I know that's a horrible way to get rid of someone," O'Bryan said. "I didn't want to get in trouble, and I know that he wouldn't of wanted me to get in trouble, so that's what I did. And I figured ... I could hide this for the rest of my life."

 "......there is no penalty that could ever make up for the loss of a child and the brutality and indignity that Andrew suffered.....He was a blessing in our lives for 18 years. I would have not traded those 18 years for anything," Angela said.

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