A Mohave Valley man was sentenced Tuesday to death in the gas chamber for burning his landlord alive last summer.
Clarence David Hill, who was convicted in December of first-degree murder, was sentenced by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Leonard Langford.Authorities claimed Hill beat Dale Edmundson, 53, then drove him into the desert south of Bullhead City, doused him with paint thinner and set him on fire in June 1989.
Investigators said the slaying occurred after an argument between the two men, who lived in trailer homes on Edmundson's property. They said Hill had cared for Edmundson, who was disabled.
Hill's attorney, Dan Kowser, argued Tuesday that results of an autopsy were flawed and that Edmundson might not have been burned alive.
But Langford agreed with prosecutors that the evidence showed Edmundson was alive when he was set on fire.
Langford said the cruelty of the crime, the fact that Hill had robbed Edmundson and Hill's prior criminal record justified the death penalty.
Death sentences are subject to automatic appeal.