Man charged with meat-cleaver killing of LA hotel manager

A man accused of using a meat cleaver to kill a 74-year-old Los Angeles hotel manager has been charged with murder and attempted robbery.

Charges were filed Thursday against 39-year-old Jian Hong Li. He remains jailed on $1 million bail and could face life in prison if convicted.

Li lived at the Chetwood Hotel in the Little Tokyo area of downtown Los Angeles.

Prosecutors claim that on Jan. 5, he tried to rob hotel manager Hideko Oyama with a meat cleaver. A tourist at the hotel found the elderly woman in the office with a slash in her neck. She died at a hospital.

Police say Li checked out of his room the day of the killing. He was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a street in East Los Angeles.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.