The Newark man is facing life in prison, officials said.
Roberson. (Courtesy Essex County Prosecutor's Office)NEWARK -- A city man is facing life in prison after being convicted Wednesday of killing his friend over a Super Bowl bet, officials announced.
Eddie Roberson, 31, was convicted Wednesday in the February 2013 murder of Talif Crowley, 38, of Bloomfield, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced Wednesday.
According to Assistant Prosecutor Adam B. Wells, the two men were friends who had bet $700 on the 2013 Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. Roberson did not want to pay, believing that the 49ers had been cheated in their 34-31 loss to the Ravens, Wells said in a release.
Two days after the game, prosecutors say Roberson confronted Crowley on Goodwin Avenue in Newark and shot him six times, killing him.
Roberson, who has three prior felony convictions, was found guilty of murder and weapons offenses, officials said. He will be sentenced on Jan. 22, they said.
"This was a particularly senseless murder of a man who was well liked in the neighborhood,'' Wells said in the release.
"This defendant killed a friend rather than pay up on a friendly bet. I'm glad the jury saw it for what it was.''
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