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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld a transient's conviction and life prison sentence for the bludgeoning death of a friend of Canadian talk show host George Stroumboulopoulos during a burglary at the celebrity's rented home in the Hollywood Hills.
Keenon Jamal Buchanan Jr., now 28, was convicted of first-degree murder for the Sept. 23, 2016, killing of 41-year-old Richard Hong, who was staying at the home in the 6700 block of Milner Road.
Jurors found true the special circumstance allegation of murder during the course of a burglary.
"The brutal nature of the killing and the manner in which it occurred indicates that it was not accidental. On the continuum of offenders who may be found guilty of special circumstance murder Buchanan clearly falls on the more blameworthy end of the spectrum," Associate Justice Carl Moor wrote on behalf of the panel in its 41-page ruling.
The appellate court panel rejected the defense's claims that there were errors in Buchanan's trial and that his life prison sentence without the possibility of parole violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Buchanan was arrested in Arizona just over a week after the slaying.
Shortly before being sentenced in October 2021, the defendant said he had difficulty remembering if he was in the house or if he took the victim's cell phone, but acknowledged he had the phone with him when he was taken into custody.
"At the time I was in ... Los Angeles, I was homeless so I didn't have a proper place to sleep. ... On top of that, I was intoxicated," the defendant said.
Buchanan said then that he hoped the victim's family would find peace, and told them he couldn't imagine how they feel or what they are going through.
The victim's sister, Virginia, told Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen that her brother would go out of his way for his "friends from all walks of life" and would have helped his assailant with cash if he had been asked.
"Does he realize how much pain he has caused his family and us?" she said of the defendant.
In a statement released in September 2016, Stroumboulopoulos wrote, "Many of you have seen the reports of a homicide ... in the home I rent in Los Angeles."
The talk show host wrote that "the victim was a dear friend of mine, who was staying at my place while I was away."
"I am heartbroken," he added.