2 Convicted in Slaying in Sylmar May Face Death : Crime: The men face a special-circumstance allegation because the owner of a check-cashing business was killed during an attempted robbery.

Two men convicted of killing the owner of a Sylmar check-cashing business in front of his wife during a kidnaping and robbery attempt could face the death penalty when jurors begin deliberating the penalty phase of their trial next month.

A San Fernando Superior Court jury Friday found Donald Lee Williams, 27, and Anthony Christopher, 26, both of Los Angeles, guilty of murder, attempted murder, kidnaping for ransom and robbery. The pair were acquitted on several lesser charges by the jury, which deliberated five days after five weeks of testimony.

The two men had been charged with a string of kidnap-robberies of owners and employees of San Fernando Valley check-cashing companies in 1987 and 1988. Included in the charges was the Dec. 3, 1987, slaying of Albert Morales.

Morales and his wife, Rose, were returning to their Sylmar home from the check-cashing shop they operated when they turned on Polk Street from San Fernando Road. A van pulled out from a driveway in front of Morales’ car and another car pulled up behind, leaving him no room to drive away.

Police said two gunmen came from the vehicles to Morales’ car in an attempt to abduct him and take him back to his business. Morales was fatally shot during the struggle. His wife was not injured.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver said Williams and Christopher were linked to the kidnap-robberies of two other business operators because of similar methods used in the three cases.

“They were trapping the check cashers and then taking them back to the businesses,” Dver said.

The men were charged with a special-circumstance allegation, making them eligible for the death penalty because Morales was killed during a robbery, Dver said.

The jurors who convicted the two men are scheduled to begin hearing evidence in the penalty phase of the trial beginning July 1, Dver said.