Man sentenced in murder of wife by strangulation, burning of body

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Columbus man who was found guilty of murdering his wife and setting her body on fire has been sentenced to 27 years to life in prison, according to the Franklin County Prosecutors Office.

A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge sentenced 43-year-old Mamadou Diallo to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 27 years.

Diallo will be required to register as a violent offender and an arson offender upon release.

A Franklin County jury found Diallo guilty of two counts of murder, aggravated arson, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse on July 19, relating to the murder of his wife, Fatoumata Diallo.

In September 2021, firefighters responded to a house fire on the 3500 block of Noe Bixby Rd. in southeast Columbus. The body of Fatoumata was found in the basement after the fire was extinguished. Diallo was accused of stringing a charging cable around her neck, strangling her, and then setting her body on fire.

There were two children in the home who were able to escape and left unharmed.