A 46-year-old man has been found guilty of murder in the strangulation death of an elderly Hollywood man he became pen pals with while serving time in a New York prison, officials said Wednesday.
After deliberating for about three hours Tuesday, jurors found Scott Kratlian, also known as Scott Porter, guilty of first-degree murder in the 2014 death of 82-year-old Harry Major, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office stated in a news release.
Major, a former teacher at Hollywood High School, was killed in his condo in the 1400 block of North Vista Street on Feb. 10, 2014.
Major died of strangulation, according to a coroner’s report. The death was ruled a homicide.
Evidence from the trial showed that some of Major’s blood was found on Kratlian’s shoes, the DA’s office stated.
The men became pen pals while Kratlian was serving a sentence for manslaughter in a New York prison.
After being released from prison, Kratlian moved to Los Angeles and lived with Major for a short time.
Longtime friend Susan Emmanule described Major as a wonderful man.
“He was a fabulous guy,” Emmanule told KTLA in 2014. “He was sweet. He was loving. He was generous.”
Kratlian was scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18 and faces up to 56 years to life in state prison.
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