An Arizona man was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison for the death of a D.C. strip club manager.
Vasile Graure, 41, became angry when he was ejected from Good Guys for photographing a dancer in November 2007, according to court documents. He went to a gas station and purchased a two-gallon gas container, a lighter and gasoline before returning to the club, prosecutors said.
Club manager Vladimir Djordjevic struggled with Graure in an attempt to get the gas, prosecutors said, but Graure succeeded in pouring gasoline over the front of the club and Djordjevic and lit a fire, burning Djordjevic over 90 percent of his body.
Graure fled to Alexandria, Va., but was identified through bank records.
Graure was convicted of assault and arson in 2008 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was charged with murder after Djordjevic died in May 2010. He was convicted of murder in January.
“This additional prison sentence -- on top of the 30 years that this arsonist is already serving -- holds him fully accountable for burning a man to death,” U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said. “A club manager was doused in gasoline, set on fire and lingered for years before finally succumbing to his severe injuries. A lifetime behind bars is just punishment for inflicting such needless pain on another human being.”
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