A McPherson man has been sentenced to a minimum 50 years in prison for killing his stepfather to cover up a theft.

A judge cited three aggravating circumstances in imposing the "hard 50" sentence against Jeffrey Nelson. The 24-year-old was convicted in April of first-degree murder for the 2007 beating death of 59-year-old Stanley Swartz, also of McPherson.

Nelson was charged with breaking into Swartz's home on April 25, 2007, and bludgeoning him repeatedly in the head with a baseball bat, while Swartz lay in bed. Swartz was found the next day by his employer and died at a Wichita hospital nearly a month l