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Jury Convicts Man of Killing Beloved Washington Heights 'Mensch'

By DNAinfo Staff on January 22, 2010 9:32am  | Updated on January 22, 2010 9:23am

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A man charged with robbing and killing an elderly "mensch" who was beloved in his Washington Heights Orthodox Jewish community was convicted by a Manhattan jury on Thursday.

William Hill stepped onto an elevator with 81-year-old Jacob Gerstle in 2006, and then threw a punch at the frail Gerstle, who fled Nazi Germany as a young man, according to his friends.

It was Hill's second trial on the charges. His first, in 2008, ended in a hung jury.

Hill faces 15 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on the murder and robbery convictions on Feb. 11.