Jurors found Luis Aguirre guilty of capital murder in Riley County district court on Friday afternoon.
Aguirre is on trial for the murders of his 18 year-old-girlfriend Tanya Maldonado, and their 13-month old son Juan in September of 2009.
During closing arguments Assistant Riley County Prosecutor Barry Disney told the jury that finding a verdict was simply an exercise in following the law and weighing the credible evidence. Disney said there was only one verdict that would serve justice and that was to find Aguirre guilty of capital murder.
Defense attorneys argued the state did not reach their burden of evidence to reach a guilty of capital murder verdict. As an example Aguirre’s defense team pointed to how Shawnee County forensic pathologist Erik Mitchell could not say exactly what caused the blunt force trauma found on the victim’s bodies.
The Jury reached their verdict after only a few hours of deliberation, and at 3 pm informed the court of their guilty verdict. All 12 affirmed their guilty votes to Riley County District Judge Meryl Wilson, and the trial is now set to go into phase two or sentencing phase of the proceedings.
The trial will resume on July 9th at 9am in Riley County district court as the jury decides whether or not Aguirre will be sentenced to death, or a receive lesser sentence such as life in prison.
