This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 3rd District Court jury on Tuesday took three hours to convict Floyd Eugene Maestas of capital murder for killing a 72-year-old woman in her Salt Lake City home four years ago.
Jurors agreed with prosecutors that Maestas, 52, was guilty of capital murder for slaying Donna Lou Bott on Sept. 28, 2004. He was also convicted of aggravated burglary for robbing an 86-year-old woman at her home the night Bott was killed.
After the verdict, Bott's niece, Phyllis Hancey, held hands with her three daughters as she said, "We're pleased with the verdict and glad [the jury] saw the truth."
Prosecutor Kent Morgan had said during closing arguments Tuesday that DNA and fingerprint evidence, as well as testimony from two co-defendants, put Maestas in the middle of the murder scene.
Morgan said Maestas deserved a capital murder conviction for "sadistically" causing Bott unnecessary pain and suffering. An autopsy showed Bott was strangled, stabbed in the face and stomped on the chest, which ruptured her aorta. He said the robbers left with "chump change and a cell phone."
Defense attorney Michael Misner countered that, at most, Maestas was guilty of a lesser charge of first-degree felony murder because the intent was to commit a robbery, not murder.
Misner also attacked the credibility of co-defendants William Hugh Irish and Rodney Roy Renzo. The defense attorney focused on the fact that Irish and Renzo, both 22, gave different versions of the attack on Bott.
Irish testified he saw Maestas on the bed as he apparently held a pillow over the struggling victim's face; Renzo testified the woman was on the floor while Maestas stomped on her chest and punched her.
Misner reminded jurors that Renzo had claimed Irish was standing next to him at the bedroom's doorway the entire time he watched the attack.
"Their stories are on different planets," Misner told the jury. "If the two eyewitnesses are telling different stories, how can you convict [Maestas] of aggravated murder?"
But Morgan contended Irish and Renzo merely saw different events at different times as they rushed about the home looking for valuables.
Misner reminded jurors that Irish and Renzo are also charged with murder, but will serve 15 years, at most, in exchange for testifying.
Morgan admitted the co-defendants are "rascals" rather than "deacons." But he claimed the evidence - including Maestas' fingerprints on a window at Bott's home and his DNA under her fingernails - corroborated their testimony.
Floyd Eugene Maestas faces phase two of his capital murder trial, in which the same nine-woman, three-man panel that convicted him will return to court Tuesday to decide his penalty. After up to two weeks of testimony, the jury will choose execution, life in prison without parole or a term of 20 years to life.