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Hired Thug Gets 32 Years For Murder

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Dec 30, 2008 6:04 am US/Central

Hired Thug Gets 32 Years For Murder

MARKHAM, Ill. (Sun-Times Media Wire) ― A hired thug paid to beat up a Chicago Heights man over a petty marijuana debt was sentenced Monday to 32 years in prison after he admitted stabbing the man to death with a carving knife.

Christopher Robinson, 23, of Chicago Heights, pleaded guilty to the Feb. 12 murder of Arnell Elam, 21, during a brief hearing at the Cook County courthouse in Markham.

Prosecutors said Marzan Williams, 24, hired Robinson to recover marijuana from Elam's home in the first block of West 19th Street and to beat up Elam.

After Robinson entered Elam's home with a key that Williams had given him, he forced Elam's girlfriend to tie up Elam in the basement with an extension cord, according to prosecutors.

When Elam managed to free himself, a struggle ensued and Robinson stabbed Elam multiple times in the abdomen with a knife taken from Elam's kitchen, killing him, authorities said. They said Elam's girlfriend escaped with their 2-year-old baby to a neighbor's home.

Under his plea agreement, lesser charges of home invasion, armed robbery and kidnapping were dropped against Robinson, of the 1600 block of Buena Vista Avenue, state's attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said.

Williams, who lives on the same block that Elam did, is charged with multiple counts of murder, armed robbery and home invasion. He's being held in Cook County Jail on bail of $4 million, and his next court date is Jan. 27.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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