A former professional boxer pleaded no contest Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter in the death of his manager more than 28 years ago.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham immediately sentenced Exum Speight to 11 years in prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Keri Modder.
A murder charge that had been filed against Speight, now 51, was dismissed as a result of his plea.
“It was a good disposition for all involved,” the prosecutor said.
Speight was arrested in September 2013 in connection with the March 29, 1987, killing of Douglas Stumler, 30.
Stumler — who also worked for the county Housing Authority — was found dead in his apartment in the 1200 block of South La Cienega Boulevard in West Los Angeles by a friend who went to check on him. Authorities said he died from blunt force trauma.
Police credited the arrest to a grant from the National Institute of Justice that enabled detectives to come up with DNA evidence incriminating Speight.
Stumler was a native of Indiana who moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Indiana about six years before his death.
He had been managing Speight for about two years, but the two men had a falling-out shortly before Stumler’s death, according to Modder. Speight had a 9-39 record as a professional boxer, including losing on a second-round technical knockout to Wladimir Klitschko, who later went on to become the heavyweight champion of the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Organization.
— Wire Reports