Hollywood Hills Murderer's Conviction Upheld By Appeals Court

LOS ANGELES, CA — A homeless man who was convicted of bludgeoning a man to death during a Hollywood Hills burglary will continue serving a life sentence after a state appeals court on Tuesday upheld his 2021 conviction.

Keenon Jamal Buchanan Jr., 28, was convicted of first-degree murder for the September 2016 killing of Richard Hong during a break-in. The court on Tuesday rejected Buchanan's lawyers' claims that there were errors in his trial and that his sentence — life without the possibility of parole — amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

Buchanan broke into a Whitley Heights home, which was being rented by Canadian TV personality George Stroumboulopoulos, and killed Hong in what police called a "brutal" bludgeoning. Representatives of the Whitley Terrace Association said at the time that Buchanan had been seen casing the area for weeks before the killing, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

"The brutal nature of the killing and the manner in which it occurred indicates that it was not accidental. On the continuum of offenders who may be found guilty of special circumstance murder Buchanan clearly falls on the more blameworthy end of the spectrum," Associate Justice Carl Moor wrote on behalf of the panel in its 41-page ruling Tuesday.

Shortly before being sentenced in October 2021, Buchanan said he had difficulty remembering if he was in the house or if he took Hong's cell phone, but acknowledged he had the phone with him when he was taken into custody.

"At the time I was in ... Los Angeles, I was homeless so I didn't have a proper place to sleep. ... On top of that, I was intoxicated," the defendant said.

Buchanan said then that he hoped the victim's family would find peace, and told them he couldn't imagine how they feel or what they are going through.

The victim's sister, Virginia, told Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen that her brother would go out of his way for his "friends from all walks of life" and would have helped his assailant with cash if he had been asked.

"Does he realize how much pain he has caused his family and us?" she said of the defendant.

After Hong's murder, Stroumboulopoulos said in a statement that he was "heartbroken" for the death of his "dear friend." The TV personality, best known for his work as a VJ on Canada's MuchMusic and a short-lived CNN show, was out of town during the break-in, he said.

City News Service contributed to this report.