GEORGETOWN, Colo.—A jury convicted a man of killing his cousin’s friend for practice for possible slayings during robberies.
Thirty-one-year-old Brent McKellip was convicted this week in Clear Creek County District Court of first-degree murder in the 2002 slaying of Mark Francis. McKellip was also sentenced to serve life in prison.
McKellip’s earlier conviction was overturned by the Colorado Court of Appeals in 2006.
Clear Creek District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said McKellip and two others planned a series of home-invasion robberies and believed it might be necessary to kill the occupants. Hurlbert said McKellip’s wanted an easy target for practice and choose Francis, who was best friends with McKellip’s cousin, Zack McKellip.
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Information from: The Denver Post,



