Tenant found guilty in Minneapolis landlord’s killing

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A jury has convicted a 24-year-old man of beating his landlord to death in south Minneapolis last year.

Hennepin County jurors on Thursday convicted Adam “Lux” Sterling of first- and second-degree murder.

Sterling was convicted in the Oct. 17, 2010, killing of 22-year-old Leo Kohorst as the landlord slept on a couch at his home.

Sterling was one of Kohorst’s tenants at the house and risked eviction for breaking house rules.

Prosecutors alleged Sterling struck Kohorst 22 times with the claw end of a hammer.

The Star Tribune reports the defense argued there was no direct evidence linking Sterling to the crime.

A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life without parole. Sentencing was scheduled for later Thursday.