AP/ August 17, 2012, 9:44 PM

Calif. man, 83, convicted of killing roommate, 94

AP

(AP) LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. - An 83-year-old man has been convicted in the beating death of his 94-year-old roommate at a California health care facility, an attack prosecutors say was triggered by the older man's singing.

A district attorney's statement says William Leo McDougall was convicted Friday in Orange County Superior Court.

McDougall and Manh Van Nguyen were both recovering from hip surgery at Palm Terrace Healthcare Center in Laguna Woods on Oct. 1, 2010.

Prosecutors say McDougall got mad because Nguyen was singing in Vietnamese, so he took a wooden rod from the closet and hit his roommate repeatedly in the head.

A nurse stopped the attack, but Nguyen later died due to blunt force trauma.

McDougall will be sentenced Oct. 26.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
8 Comments Add a Comment
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gnimelf1968 says:
Maybe the guy just wanted to heal in peace and quiet. It was his room too.
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audemus says:
Now that would be an "X Factor" to remember....


My sympathies to the Manh Van Nguyen family.
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Berkeley-SkirtLifter says:
Maybe, the nurses should've shut the singer up? If anyone was paying attention, they would've seen McDougall getting agitated. I'm sure McDougall didn't simply ask politely, "please stop singing", then jump str8 to the nuclear option.

I bet McDougall was frustrated by hours of ceaseless noise and no one in the facility even tried to stop the singing.

At age 83, I probably would've done the same thing...
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cbs_bull says:
Is this considered as a hate crime?
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bwlewis1964 replies:
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Get a life!
hypnotoad72 replies:
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bwlewis1964 -

He has one.

He just needs a better one.

He forgets that most crimes in general are based on hate, in one form or another.

I wonder what _bull there hates...
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vielmann says:
Well now the old man can go to jail and find out how good the hip replacement really is. Age is no excuse.
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hypnotoad72 replies:
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So how was your hip replacement surgery in prison, noting your own purported familiarity with the subject?