Mar 31, 2021 03:36 pm
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — A South Lake Tahoe man who was convicted of fatally beating his female roommate with a piece of firewood in 2019 has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
James Cleveland, who was 71 at the time, has been jailed since he was found guilty of first-degree murder in January in the killing of 65-year-old Valorie Turley.
El Dorado County Judge Suzanne Kingsbury sentenced him March 19 and added an additional year to the sentence for a weapons enhancement, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported on Wednesday.
Cleveland admitted during the trial that after Turley said something to upset him, he “snapped” and “lost control,” the newspaper reported.