Brothers convicted in murder plot for $2.5 million in insurance money

Two brothers were convicted Friday in the murder of the elder brother’s ex-boyfriend to collect on his $2.5 million insurance policy, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Separate juries found Hovanes “John” Maskovian, 37, and Hachik “Kriss” Maskovian, 31, guilty of the first-degree murder and attempted kidnapping of Joshua West, 33, of Glendale. Special circumstances were also found of lying in wait, murder for financial gain and murder during an attempted kidnapping.

West was lured to a Sun Valley location on April 24, 2013, with a story about acquiring a cellphone, prosecutors said. He was beaten, run over by a car and shot by the Maskovian brothers, authorities said. His body was dumped in the 10200 block of Penrose Street in Sun Valley.

West had been dating Hovanes Maskovian for seven years, West’s sister said. They had broken up in December 2012 but continued to live together in a Glendale apartment out of convenience, West’s father said.

The brothers are scheduled to be sentenced in August. Each faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A third suspect, Nazaret “Nick” Bayamdzhyan, 22, is awaiting trial.

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