SANTA ANA – from www.oclnn.com – A man who admitted that he killed a Newport Beach liquor store owner in a tussle over a stolen porn magazine was convicted today of first-degree murder.

Attorneys for 31-year-old Weston Scott Kruger had maintained their client was guilty of manslaughter, not murder. The defense argued that Kruger had tried to give the magazine back to the store owner, and had not intended to kill the man.

But jurors heard testimony that the robber slammed the diminutive shopkeeper so hard that the victim flew into the air and landed on his head.