Man gets life for bludgeoning roommate to death with a baseball bat

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted Cristian Rodriguez, 38, of first-degree murder for the death of Roosevelt Harris in the Tremont Street home they shared, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

The jury rejected Rodriguez's argument that he was too mentally ill to know what he was doing when he used a metal baseball bat to smash Harris in the head until he died, the DA's office reports. The verdict means life in prison without possibility of parole.

The two had long bickered over issues such as money and missing food from the house's shared kitchen - Rodriguez had previously punched Harris in the face after accusing him of stealing food, prosecutors said.

On Feb. 9, 2012, other tenants:

Heard a series of loud bumps; one resident also heard a voice call out and identified the voice as Harris’. When he rushed to Harris’ room, he found Harris lying on his back with severe trauma to his head and face.

Witnesses saw Rodriguez toss the metal bat in a trash can. The bat, along with the rest of the trash, was incinerated before police could examine it, but police found a trash worker who "recalled seeing the bat and noticed brownish stains on its surface," the DA's office says.