Appellate court affirms conviction in 2011 stabbing death

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois appellate court has upheld the conviction of a suburban Chicago man in his father's 2011 stabbing death

Westmont police responding to a fight at William Clifford Jr.'s home found 63-year-old William Clifford Sr. lying in a hallway bleeding. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The 38-year-old Clifford Jr. was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015. DuPage County Circuit Judge Robert Kleeman sentenced him to 35 years in prison.

The DuPage County State's Attorney's office says in his appeal that Clifford challenged a state's expert witness' opinion that his palm print matched a print found on the murder weapon. He also argued his sentence wasn't warranted because the trial court refused to consider certain mitigating evidence.

Clifford Jr. is serving his sentence at the Menard Correctional Center.