California IN BRIEF : LAKE ELSINORE : Man Convicted in Courthouse Slayings

The gunman who killed a woman and her daughter inside the Lake Elsinore courthouse was convicted of first-degree murder, and arguments on his sanity are scheduled to begin Tuesday. A Riverside County Superior Court jury Thursday found Fred Wayne Helvy, 34, guilty in the May 7, 1991, deaths of Elizabeth Castillo, 27, of Mead Valley and her 8-year-old daughter, Cori Ann. Judge H. Dennis Myers had removed manslaughter as an option in the slayings. The sanity hearing will determine whether the Mead Valley man will be imprisoned for life or committed to a mental hospital. Helvy showed no emotion as the verdicts were read; members of the victims’ family wiped away tears and smiled faintly. The jury found Helvy guilty of special circumstances of lying in wait and multiple murder, but prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.