Man who killed car dealer to go before parole board

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) – A man serving life in prison after killing a Huntsville auto dealer when he couldn’t get a car loan nearly 20 years ago has a chance at freedom next month.

Al.com reports a Sept. 20 parole hearing has been set for 40-year-old Burman Lee Akers Jr. who was convicted of murder in the 1996 death of 49-year-old Robert Carl Hartman.

The then-20-year-old Akers, of Boaz, was on leave after finishing boot camp with the U.S. Air Force when he killed Hartman in his office at Hartman Motors.

Authorities said Akers slashed the auto salesman’s throat repeatedly after a bank loan didn’t come through for him to buy a Camaro on Hartman’s car lot.

Hartman then tried to hide Hartman’s body before stealing the victim’s wallet and the car.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)