<p>The first time Lorenzo Critten created a fictional brother, killed a homeless man and cut off his hands to eliminate fingerprints, he was able to collect $100,000 in insurance money and get away with the crime.</p><p>But Critten pushed his luck.</p><p>His scheme fell apart when another "brother" turned up dead, with no hands, in a neighboring county.</p><p>Critten, 47, of Lithonia avoided a death penalty by pleading guilty to both murders Friday and was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years.</p><p>The body of John Fitzgerald Horne, 36, was found Oct. 7, 2002, near Conyers in Rockdale County. Horne had been shot in the chest, his hands severed, and then he was dumped along a road.</p><p>Papers found on the body listed Critten as an emergency contact. Critten told authorities the body was that of his half-brother. Police became suspicious after Critten offered false identifications and eventually took him into custody. Critten broke down under questioning and led police the next day to an industrial park in DeKalb County. There, they found Horne's hands and later were able to identify him through fingerprints.</p><p>After Critten's arrest, DeKalb authorities reopened the investigation into the May 2001 killing of a man then identified as Lorenzo Crittenden, 45. That body, missing a hand, also had an address card naming Critten as an emergency contact.</p><p>The man's true identity still has not been established.</p><p>Critten told police that both men were homeless, but authorities say that was not true of Horne, who had arrived in metro Atlanta shortly before his death with plans to visit a sister.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2874b24)</p>
