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Beaver County Man Convicted of Landlady Stabbing Death

A Beaver County man has been convicted of first-degree criminal homicide in the stabbing death of his landlady last year.

Jurors in Beaver County deliberated for four hours Tuesday evening before convicting 34-year-old Benjamin Dennerlein in the May 2009 death of 54-year-old Elizabeth Grosskopf in Freedom.

Police said Dennerlein stabbed the victim almost three dozen times after her ex-boyfriend threatened to evict him.

Prosecutor Jennifer Popovich said more than 40 witnesses and 100 pieces of evidence pointed to Dennerlein. She said he was the only person with motive and was found with her debit card and her blood on him.

Public defender Kurt Fuchel argued that the amount of blood was small and said police had not been vigorous in their investigation of other suspects.

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