Man faces life in prison for brutal abduction and murder of homeless Ithaca man

Ithaca, N.Y. — A Tompkins County man faces life in state prison for the brutal abduction and murder of a homeless Ithaca man in 2023.
Joseph Howell, 38, was found guilty last week of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and three counts of witness intimidation in May 2023, according to local media reports.
Howell faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole in the murder of Thomas Rath. He is scheduled for sentencing on January 13, 2025.
Rath, 33, was abducted May 20 from an Ithaca homeless camp called “the Jungle.” His remains were found in a shallow grave on state land in Candor, Tioga County, on Aug. 3.
In Howell’s two-week trial held in Tioga County, it emerged that Rath was abducted by a group of people at the direction of Howell, the New York Times reported Friday.
Rath was zip-tied, beaten, hit in the head with a socket wrench and dragged to a waiting car, the newspaper reported. He was taken to a house where he was brutalized for hours and begged for mercy before he was taken into the woods and shot, according to the article.
Rath was dead within 24 hours after being kidnapped, troopers said.
On Oct. 24, the jury came out with its verdict of guilty on all charges.
In all, 12 other people were arrested in the case. More trials are planned.