LAKE COUNTY – A man convicted of killing an elderly victim 32 years ago will remain in state prison for at least another five years after officials denied him parole earlier this week.

The Board of Parole Hearings denied parole to convicted murderer Jeffery Scott Sargent at a Thursday hearing, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who attended the hearing to argue against Sargent's release.

Sargent, 59, was convicted of the first-degree murder of 88-year-old Gedney Robinson and sentenced to seven years to life on May 15, 1978, by Superior Court Judge John Golden. Then-District Attorney Robert L. Crone Jr. prosecuted the case.

Hinchcliff said this week's lifer hearing, held at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, was Sargent's 12^th since he was convicted. Sargent's minimum eligible parole date was October 28, 1984.

On Sept. 22, 1977, Fresno Police received a report that a 1974 Ford belonging to Mr. Robinson was going to be used in a robbery, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office investigative reports.

When deputies responded to the victim’s small cabin on Second Avenue in Lucerne, they found the front door broken and Robinson dead inside. He had just returned home the same day from a rock collecting trip to Nevada.

The reports noted that Robinson was stabbed seven times – five times in the heart and two times in the back.

Sargent took a ring off the victim’s finger, $40 from his wallet, and his vehicle, according to the investigation.

He denied any involvement in the crime when he was arrested, but the investigation revealed that Sargent was a career criminal who had just been paroled from prison and had gone to Lake County two days before the murder to see his wife, who was living near Robinson. Sargent also had used heroin at the time of the murder.

Investigators found in Sargent's possession some of the property stolen from Robinson's home, and the investigation revealed that he had lied about his involvement.

Following a mistrial, Sargent pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a special circumstance allegation being dropped.

At the three-hour hearing Thursday, Hinchcliff asked the Board of Prison Hearings to deny Sargent’s parole on the ground that he still presented an unreasonable risk of danger to the public if released, and failed to exhibit any remorse or accept responsibility for his conduct.

Robinson’s niece, his only still living relative, also attended the hearing to ask the parole commissioners to deny parole.

The Board of Prison Hearings denied parole. Sargent’s next parole hearing will be in five years, Hinchcliff said.