Police Seeking Motive in Sportswriter’s Slaying

While a boxer sits in a Los Angeles jail accused of beating a freelance sportswriter to death with a hammer, police detectives are trying to determine the motive for the October killing.

James Butler, 31, who fights under the nickname the “Harlem Hammer,” pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he used a hammer to kill Sam Kellerman and set fire to his Hollywood apartment.

The victim is the younger brother of TV sports personality Max Kellerman, whose daily talk show “I, Max,” is shown on Fox Sports Net. Max Kellerman has been on leave since hearing of the death.

Butler was charged with murder and arson and was being held on $1.25-million bail, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Los Angeles police arrested Butler on Wednesday after Sam Kellerman’s missing 1993 Cadillac Seville was found abandoned near UCLA. Police were able to track it to Butler, who was receiving treatment at UCLA Medical Center.

Sam Kellerman, 29, was a freelance sportswriter and frequent contributor to FOXSports.com. Butler, a friend of Kellerman’s, had been staying in the reporter’s apartment since September, Gibbons said.

Max Kellerman told reporters that his brother was the pillar of strength in their family. “He held us together. I don’t know what I’m going to do. He was my best friend,” he said last week.

Police have released few details about the slaying. Sam Kellerman’s body was found in his apartment the morning of Oct. 17, at least two days after he died from blunt-force trauma to the head, authorities said.

Butler is perhaps best known in boxing circles for “sucker punching” boxer Richard Grant in 2001 after losing to him.

Sam Kellerman interviewed Butler while he was in jail for the incident, and Max Kellerman, who was then working for ESPN, partially defended Butler in an online column.

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Times wires services contributed to this report.