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An inmate convicted of murder in Buchanan County in 1982 has died in prison.

According to Iowa Department of Corrections officials, 68-year-old Michael Craney died Wednesday morning at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. They said Craney's death was likely due to natural causes.

Craney began serving a life sentence in the Iowa prison system on Nov. 2, 1982, after being convicted for the first-degree murder of his 22-day-old son.

According to the Des Moines Register, Craney used a knife to cut the baby's throat. A story on the trial said authorities found the knife on the kitchen floor of Craney's rural Jesup home when they arrived the morning of the slaying.

Court records show the child sustained multiple stab wounds and suffered a fractured skull during the attack. The incident happened on May 5, 1982.

Craney was later arrested at the home of his three brothers and their widowed mother. A six-man, six-woman jury convicted him in Oct. 1982

Source: Des Moines Register

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