Marine Pleads Guilty to Killing Gay Man

SAN DIEGO, CA -- A former U.S. Marine pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder of a gay San Diego man he claimed sexually assaulted him while he was a sleep.

James A. Hardy, 20, was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison for strangling to death Raymond Catolico, 39, of Little Italy, in the victim's apartment in Feb. 2006. Hardy said he then placed the body under the bathroom sink where it was found three days later.

Hardy told San Diego police Detective Brett Burkett that the two met a week before the murder at the downtown San Diego Greyhound Bus station while Hardy was absent without leave from the Marine Corps.

Hardy and Catolico went to the victim's apartment, and Catolico asked Hardy to sleep in his bed, but Hardy declined and slept on the couch.

A week later Hardy went to Catolico's apartment again. Hardy got a massage, had a few drinks and passed out. When he woke up, he claims Catolicoe was on top of him and sexually assaulting him.

According to Hardy he felt violated and that "one thing led to another and I ended up choking him."

"He had time to think about it, and he formed a plan in his mind for the victim to lay on his stomach, and that's when he decided to choke him out," Deputy District Attorney Dan Link told the court.

Following the murder Hardy went out for fast food, and then brought it back to the apartment and ate it while playing video games on Catolico's computer.

In a victim impact statement prior to Hardy's sentencing Catolico's father, Jose Catolico, told the judge that, "Unfortunately, [Raymond] was robbed of his life. No amount of corporal punishment can bring him back to life."

Hardy had faced a hate crime allegation due to Catolico's sexual orientation, but prosecutors later dropped the charge.