Killer of guitarist Rod Poole sentenced

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- The wife of guitarist Roderick Poole called her husband a champion of the underdog during the Los Angeles sentencing of his killer.

Michael Sheridan was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the May 2007 stabbing death of Poole during a dispute that began when Poole yelled at Sheridan after he and his wife nearly ran over another man in the parking lot of a Hollywood diner.

The Los Angeles Times said Wednesday that Lisa Ladaw told the courtroom that Poole hadn't been looking for trouble when they went to Mel's Drive-in to celebrate Mother's Day but shouted at Sheridan after he bumped into a restaurant employee in the lot.

Sheridan was convicted of stabbing Poole six times with a steak knife and then speeding away with his wife behind the wheel and young son sitting in the back seat.

"He would speak for the underdog, he would speak for people who needed to be defended," Ladaw said of Poole.

The Times described the British-born Poole as a fixture in the Los Angeles experimental music scene who had been focused on composing in recent years.