Racine man convicted in fatal stabbing of Melissa Hansen

RACINE — Jurors in Racine County have convicted a man of fatally stabbing a woman he said was his best friend.

Robert "Scott" Swanton was found guilty Friday of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 42-year-old Melissa Hansen. She was stabbed more than a dozen times in March 2015 at her apartment. Prosecutors said Hansen picked up Swanton the evening before her body was found by her sister and mother at her apartment.

The Journal Times reports Swanton's attorney Michael Plaisted had argued that his client, who previously spent time in the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, thought Hansen was involved with people intent on doing him harm, Plaisted told jurors that Swanton took action to protect himself and might have meant to hurt Hansen, but not kill her.