Bobby Dye, former Cal State Fullerton basketball...

Bobby Dye, former Cal State Fullerton basketball coach, and John MacLeod, coach of the Dallas Mavericks, testified on behalf of Michael Niles in the sentencing phase of Niles’ murder-for-hire trial.

Jurors watched taped game highlights of Niles, formerly of the Phoenix Suns, in a defense attempt to spare him from the death penalty.

A Superior Court jury Jan. 24 convicted Niles, 33, of Corona, of hiring a man to kill his wife to collect $100,000 in life insurance. Sonja Rose Niles, 29, was killed by a shotgun blast Dec. 13, 1984.

MacLeod was coach of the Phoenix Suns when Niles played third-string forward for the team in 1980-81. Niles was part of Dye’s Cal State Fullerton team that advanced to the West Regional final before losing to Arkansas in 1977-78.