SAN DIEGO : Defendant Convicted in Two Slayings
In a conviction that makes him eligible for the death penalty, a Superior Court jury found Jessie Ray Moffett guilty Monday of two counts of murder.
After only one day of deliberations, the jury decided that Moffett was the principal actor in a four-week crime rampage that culminated in the Dec. 19, 1987, shooting death of 67-year-old Glen J. Avery at the Holiday Inn on Aero Drive in Serra Mesa.
The 33-year-old San Diego man was also convicted of killing Debra E. Owen, 20, at the Linda Vista Recreation Center in 1979. In a previous trial, a jury deadlocked 7-5 in favor of acquittal on this charge.
Moffett was convicted of 17 counts plus four special-circumstance allegations, any one of which could bring the death penalty.
The jury will decide whether Moffett should be sent to the gas chamber or get life in prison without the possibility of parole when it reconvenes June 29.
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