Man, 82, to serve time for voluntary manslaughter

YOUNGSTOWN -- An 82-year-old man will spend 10 years in prison for the March 2004 stabbing death of his girlfriend.
Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge John Durkin told George Crankfield Sr. on Tuesday that he deserved the maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter because of his history of violent offenses. Crankfield spent 20 years in prison for fatally shooting his second wife. He was still on parole for that crime when he stabbed 63-year-old Birstine Wolfe in a home on Baldwin Avenue.
Before sentencing, Crankfield told Judge Durkin that Wolfe attacked him. "She fussed with me every day ... She tried to stick me with a knife," said Crankfield, who uses a wheelchair and needs oxygen to breathe. "I grabbed one [knife] off the table. I had to defend myself. I was getting ready to leave and go back to Florida. That's why she tried to kill me."
Atty. James Gentile, representing Crankfield, called Wolfe's death an "unfortunate incident" that "started in somewhat of a mutual combat situation."
Two of Wolfe's six children addressed the court about the loss of their mother and their desire for Crankfield to receive the maximum sentence.
Crankfield had an opportunity to retreat from his fight with Wolfe, Judge Durkin said.
Crankfield was to be transferred to the Lorain Correctional Facility to serve his sentence, with credit for 615 days already served. If he lives to complete his sentence, he will be on probation for five years, the judge added.