Professional boxer sentenced in beating death

A professional boxer was sentenced April 5, 2006, to state prison for the October 2004 beating death of a freelance sportswriter, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

James Butler Jr., 33, was sentenced to more than 29 years in prison and ordered to pay almost $40,000 in restitution.

In March 2006, Butler pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and arson. He admitted to bludgeoning Sam Kellerman to death with a hammer and then setting a fire inside his apartment.

Kellerman, a 29-year-old white man, was fatally beaten Oct. 12, 2004, in the 1400 block of North Vista Street in Hollywood.

After not hearing from him, Kellerman’s family and friends broke into his Hollywood apartment on Oct. 17. They found him dead on the floor, covered by a bedspread, according to court records.

Butler, who reportedly suffered from bipolar disorder, was arrested at UCLA Medical Center, where he had sought psychiatric care, five days after the Oct. 12 slaying.

-- Maloy Moore