VISTA, Calif. -- An elderly man who said he shot two roommates in Escondido -- one of them fatally -- because they verbally and physically abused him and were trying to steal his $275,000 nest egg was sentenced Wednesday to eight years and four months in state prison.

Octavian Crishan, now 71, shot and killed 67-year-old Herman Wiesemeyer and wounded 46-year-old Matthew Vivian in the home they shared.

Crishan was convicted last year of voluntary manslaughter and attempted murder, but Judge Joel Pressman granted a new trial based on jury misconduct.

On Jan. 14, Crishan pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted voluntary manslaughter with the use of a gun.

Given the defendant's age and lack of criminal record, Pressman sentenced Crishan to the mid-term and not an aggravated sentence, said Deputy District Attorney Brendan McHugh.

According to court testimony, Vivian came home the morning of Feb. 18, 2007, and found Wiesemeyer, his landlord and roommate, lying in a pool of blood.

Crishan emerged and shot Vivian in the jaw, according to court testimony.

Defense attorney Barbara McDonald suggested during a 2007 hearing that Crishan -- a retired classical musician from Las Vegas -- acted in self-defense because he frequently argued with his best friend Wiesemeyer, while Vivian had taken anger-management classes.

According to court testimony, Wiesemeyer brought Crishan to live with him in Escondido after the defendant had lived in an assisted-living facility in Nevada.

The two men drank and fought constantly, and Vivian told police they were arguing when he left for work at 6 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2007.

Crishan -- who had lived at the home for about three months -- told police he shot Wiesemeyer in the neck around midnight.