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Jury convicts man of killing retired jeweler

LAWRENCE | A 37-year-old man has been convicted in the April 2005 slaying of a retired jeweler at the elderly man's home in Lecompton.

A Douglas County District Court jury found Allen Dale Smith guilty Monday of first-degree murder and aggravated burglary. Smith and another man were arrested after 77-year-old Clarence David Boose was killed in his home.

Boose owned David's Jewelry in Topeka.

A mistrial was declared when Smith was first tried for the crime in August.

Prosecutors said Smith fired the fatal shot from a pistol when Boose interrupted the burglary.

Smith's cousin, Leonard Price, pleaded guilty in 2007 to first-degree murder for taking part in the botched burglary. Price was a key witness in Smith's trial.

Price will be sentenced Tuesday.

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