Life sentence given in hotel killing

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.

The Pennsylvania man convicted of killing a tourist in a Las Vegas hotel room will spend the rest of his life in prison, a jury decided on Tuesday.

The same jurors that found Kenneth Grant guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the death of David Sygnarski, 44, announced the sentence after a penalty phase before District Judge John McGroarty. Grant, 35, will be eligible for parole after 40 years has passed.

Jurors had also convicted Grant of robbery with use of a deadly weapon. Grant will be sentenced on that charge on Nov. 12.

Prosecutors had alleged that Grant and his girlfriend, Paulette Perry, killed Sygnarski in a room at the now-defunct Maxim on April 4, 2001. Sygnarski was also from Pennsylvania.

Perry was convicted of first-degree murder in an earlier trial and is serving two life sentences.

During the two-day penalty phase, prosecutors and defense attorneys presented to jurors the aggravating and mitigating circumstances they said should be considered when determining Grant's fate.

Grant could have received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.