Man told police he and girlfriend ‘fought like men’ after he killed her with hammer and knives

A 50-year-old man in Michigan will spend the rest of his life behind bars for brutally killing his girlfriend, stabbing and beating her to death with a hammer inside their home before attempting to abscond in the victim’s car with her credit cards and prescription drugs in tow. Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Sabaugh on Friday ordered Jason Ross to serve a sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole in the 2021 slaying of 47-year-old Kathleen Hales, authorities announced.

Ross in September was found guilty on one count of first-degree premeditated murder — a mandatory life without parole offense — as well as larceny from a building, unlawful driving away of a motor vehicle, and stealing a financial transaction device without consent. The verdict came following a 10-day trial that was prosecuted by Macomb County Assistant Prosecutors Elizabeth Abbo and Kelsey Heath.

According to a news release from the prosecutor’s office, authorities on the afternoon of Saturday, July 24, 2021, responded to a call about an injured adult female inside of a mobile home in Sterling Heights, just over 20 miles north of Detroit.

Authorities said Ross “brutally murdered” Hales by “stabbing her multiple times” with three different knives and repeatedly “hitting her with a hammer.”

“Ross hid the body and fled with the victims credit cards, prescription drugs and her car,” prosecutors wrote in the release. “He was apprehended in Prescott, MI with one of the murder weapons and the victim’s belongings.”

Hales’s body was found by a family member inside the home she and Ross shared, Detroit Fox affiliate WJBK reported. Inside the home, police reportedly said they found signs of a struggle.

“It wasn’t fair, for anyone or her, to go through that, that suffering,” a longtime friend of the victim who wished to remain anonymous told the station. “It was just brutal suffering.

The Macomb Daily reported that Hales suffered a total of 69 wounds.

“The defendant put a hammer to her head while she was defenseless, laying there yelling for help,” Abbo reportedly told jurors during her closing remarks, adding that Ross effectively tortured Hales.

Ross, who represented himself during the trial, claimed he killed Hales in self-defense. He told authorities that he and Hales “fought like men” before he was able to overpower and kill her, per the Macomb Daily.

Ross spent about 30 minutes on his own closing argument, but reportedly called it quits after Sabaugh interrupted him for the fourth time to demand that he stop bringing up allegations of fact that were not introduced during the course of the trial.

“I’m done. I just don’t got anything to say. I’m happy. I’m good,” Ross reportedly said.

In a statement, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said that such violent acts must be met with swift justice.

“As a community, we cannot tolerate such acts of brutality,” Lucido said. “This sentence ensures that justice is served for the victim, her family, and all those affected by this senseless violence. Our thoughts are with the loved ones who continue to grieve, and we hope this conviction brings them some measure of peace.”

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