Monday, the family of Santa Teresa High sophomore Michael Russell sobbed as the protracted legal ordeal to hold his two killers accountable finally began drawing to a close in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The jury in the retrial of one of the culprits, Randy Thompson, found him guilty Monday of premeditated murder in when he was 15, and an enhancement, personal use of a deadly weapon.
Thompson, still baby-faced at 22, remained expressionless as the verdict was read. He faces 26 years to life in prison. From the beginning, the case gained notoriety because of how young the accused were and the cold-blooded way they carried out the crime. He wrote about killing on his South San Jose bedroom walls, drew cartoons depicting people dying and bragged about the grisly cellphone pictures he carried with him — including one of him grinning while holding a cat with its legs cut off that had been lit on fire.
Thompson and Williams were both charged with plotting to kill Russell for thrills, and under normal circumstances would have been tried together. Berley said Laut will not give up on overturning her conviction. The plan going forward is to file a petition for review with the California Supreme Court.
In March , jurors found Laut guilty of first-degree murder in the Aug. The murder trial began in January and jurors heard about how the Oxnard woman called shortly after midnight on the night of the shooting to report prowlers and the sound of gunshots in her yard. She later admitted to lying and claimed she only shot her husband after he threatened to kill her, their adopted son and their dogs.
Laut testified that she suffered alleged emotional, physical and sexual abuse by her husband of nearly 30 years. Experts testified that Laut suffered from battered women syndrome and post-traumatic distress disorder. Get unlimited access to coverage like this with a digital subscription to The Star. He kept coming and he would not stop.
The prosecution said that Laut was shot six times, including in the back of the head, with a gun that had to be cocked before each shot. Laut initially told police her husband was shot by an intruder after going to investigate a noise he heard in their yard.
The defense wants a judge to release Laut on bail while her sentence is appealed. Attorney Mark Hart, who will handle her appeal, said it could take a year or more to reach an appellate court.
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