A man convicted in a 2023 Harbison Canyon murder case was sentenced Friday to 216 years to life in state prison, Patch reported Tuesday, citing authorities.

Kenneth McNally, 42, was sentenced for the murder of Samuel Holthaus, whose body was found Sept. 3, 2023, at a residence in the 1200 block of Harbison Canyon Road in unincorporated El Cajon. Sheriff's officials said deputies had responded around 3:30 p.m. to a suspicious death report.

Deputies found Holthaus deceased with trauma to his upper body, according to Patch. The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office later ruled the death a homicide.

Sheriff's homicide detectives identified McNally as the suspect, and he was later arrested by the Sheriff's Fugitive Task Force. Patch reported that a jury convicted him of first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, shooting at an inhabited occupied structure or vehicle and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

The case is outside Santee city limits, but Harbison Canyon and unincorporated El Cajon are part of the same East County public-safety network that many Santee residents follow closely. The sentence closes a major criminal case that began with a rural suspicious-death call nearly three years ago.