William Leo McDougall of Laguna Woods beat his roommate, Manh Ban Nguyen, to death with a wooden rod used to hang clothes.
The murder took place at Palm Terrace Healthcare Center on Oct. 1, 2010 in Laguna Hills where both men were recovering from hip surgeries.
According to detectives, McDougall mistakenly believed his wife was sleeping beside him and became enraged when he mistakenly thought he heard his roommate singing loudly. Police say McDougall then took a wooden rod from the closet in their room and hit Nguyen, who was sound asleep, multiple times in the head.
Nguyen died at a local hospital due to blunt force trauma to the head.
McDougall was sentenced to lifetime probation with a suspended sentence of 16 years in state prison.
