[Grammar] Usage of "In"

[learningspirit]

I have a question about the usage of the preposition "in" here:


"Matt and Sweat used power tools to saw through a steel cell wall and several steel steam pipes, bashed a hole through a 2-foot-thick brick wall, squirmed through pipes and emerged from a manhole outside the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole in the killing of a sheriff's deputy in Broome County in 2002. Matt was serving 25 years to life for the killing and dismembering of his former boss."


The act of serving a sentence didn't happen as a part of the killing of a deputy. So, the use of "in" alone seems off. Would replacing "in" with "in connection with" be better?

 

[Skrej]

No, it's fine as written.

The sentence was a result of his actions in killing the deputy.

Compare this to the following structure:

In killing the deputy, he commited himself to a life sentence.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Can 'for' be used instead of 'in' in the OP's sentence?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes. And I would prefer that.

 

[Polyester]

No, it's fine as written.

The sentence was a result of his actions in killing the deputy.

Compare this to the following structure:

In killing the deputy, he commited himself to a life sentence.

Can I omit underlining in red? I think if the sentence is omiting underlining in red that would be more smooth.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Should it be 'he was committed to a life sentence'?

 

[bhaisahab]

Can I omit underlining in red? I think if the sentence is omiting underlining in red that would be more smooth.

No.

 

[bhaisahab]

Should it be 'he was committed to a life sentence'?

Yes, Matthew, if you omit "himself", as Polyester suggested.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Can I omit underlining in red? I think if the sentence is omiting underlining in red that would be more smooth.

I cannot see any underlined text in red in this thread, but I am not a teacher.