A former white supremacist was convicted Thursday of the racially motivated murder of a black man whose skeletal remains were found about three months after he was beaten with a baseball bat, chased into the desert and stabbed.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated about five hours before finding Richard Phillip Ritchie guilty of first-degree murder for the July 1997 killing of Howard Garfield McClendon, 32, of Los Angeles.
The 39-year-old Palmdale resident was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, and jurors found true the special circumstance allegations that the victim was murdered by means of lying in wait and because of his race.
Deputy District Attorney Geoffrey Lewin said McClendon was lured into a car by Ritchie and co-defendant Kelly Sorrell and driven down a dirt road so Sorrell could get lightning bolt tattoos, a supposed badge of honor for white supremacists who kill blacks.
The victim was stabbed so many times that he was nearly decapitated, according to the prosecution.
Sorrell, 37, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, admitted a hate crime allegation and testified against Ritchie. She is set to be sentenced Friday to 29 years to life in state prison.
Ritchie — who is serving a 38-year prison sentence or a string of home invasion robberies in 1999 and was previously sentenced to a 16-month term for arson involving a cross burning — is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with Ritchie’s killing. He is set to be sentenced Feb. 6.
— City News Service