Judge: Death penalty can be sought in veteran’s burn death

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A judge has agreed that prosecutors can seek the death penalty against a man charged with beating and burning to death an Army veteran he had met at a bar in 2014.

The News & Record of Greensboro reports that a judge agreed with aggravating factors cited by prosecutors. Those factors included the cruelty of the killing, putting other people at risk by setting a fire at a motel and killing the veteran while committing another crime.

Authorities say 27-year-old Garry Gupton beat 46-year-old Stephen White with a telephone, a television and other items in a Greensboro motel room in November 2014 before setting the room on fire.

White died nearly a week later from burns so bad that parts of both arms had to be amputated.

___

Information from: News & Record, http://www.news-record.com

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)