Q: What was the sentence given to the killer of Dustin Hays in 1993? - Matt, Austin, Texas
A: Amil Paul McGrath, now 39 was sentenced on March 29, 1995, to 12 years in state prison for killing Hays, The Bee reported.
McGrath, whose own attorney described him as a second-generation drug user, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the Dec. 21, 1993, stabbing death of Hays in a Roseville apartment.
Placer County Superior Court Judge James D. Garbolino imposed the maximum sentence available to him under the jury's verdict - 11 years for manslaughter and an additional year for the use of a deadly weapon.
According to McGrath's confession to authorities, Hays had pleaded with McGrath not to let him die after being stabbed repeatedly at the apartment McGrath shared with a roommate.
McGrath's attorney said the killing was the tragic result of a "blind panic," brought about by a combination of factors and triggered by a fear that Hays was there to do him harm.
McGrath had just received a $70,000 cash settlement for an injury suffered in an automobile accident and had been warned by friends that someone may try to take the money from him.
A seven-day methamphetamine "high" brought paranoia, delusions and hallucinations to McGrath, his attorney said. When Hays said and did things that McGrath misinterpreted as threats, the assault began, the attorney said.
Hays' body eventually was wrapped in a carpet and dumped in a remote area off Olive Ranch Road in Granite Bay, where it was found on Christmas Day 1993.
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