A Schuylkill County man convicted of beating to death a former Barnesville man will be behind bars for life.

President Judge William E. Baldwin on Tuesday sentenced Thomas J. Petrousky, 55, of Altamont, near Frackville, to life in prison without parole in the death of David R. Halaburda, 50.According to testimony and court documents, Petrousky killed Halaburda, repeatedly hitting him in the head and neck with a board and his fists, on the morning of April 28, 2014.A jury on March 9 deliberated less than two hours before convicting Petrousky of first-degree murder and related crimes.Defense attorney Michael Stine argued that Petrousky was insane at the time of the murder, which happened after Halaburda asked Petrousky to move out of the Frackville-area home they shared.Proscutor AJ Serina countered that it was rage, not mental illness, that cost Halaburda his life.Less than an hour before police would discover Halaburda’s body, Petrousky removed his dentures and took off his jacket before punching his neighbor James Dellock in the face, kicking him in the back and threatening to shoot his dogs in the head.It was when police took Petrousky’s friendly pit bull back to the house he shared with Halaburda that they discovered the body in a pool of blood in the living room, buried under furniture, magazines and other household items, and with a mounted deer head deliberately placed with its nose to his.