Circuit Judge Larry Bourgeois has sentenced Richard Lambert to 27 years in prison for the manslaughter of a 79-year-old Long Beach man and for burglary of a vessel.

Assistant District Attorney Scott Lusk said Lambert was allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. He had been charged with capital murder after the discovery of Bob Barnes' dismembered remains in May 2009.

Lusk said Barnes was stabbed to death during an argument. His dismemberment was gruesome, Lusk said, but the state could not prove dismemberment killed him, which was an element of the capital offense.

Read more in Friday's Sun Herald.