I’d argue that specificity is crucial here. “Kill” could be any number of methods, many of them relatively quick or accidental. Maybe he was shot in the head or hit by a car and killed instantly. But “beaten to death” is a pretty gruesome way to go out by most standards, and it isn’t something that just happens by accident. It makes it clear that he didn’t just have an accident; it was an intentional act, committed by people with blood literally on their hands.

The sanitized version would be the same kind of passive voice BS that cops use when issuing public statements.