TARZANA : Ex-Convict Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder

An ex-convict was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the execution-style killing of a Burbank business owner who was involved with the killer in a theft ring.

Daniel Joseph Miller, 47, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Oct. 16 killing of Stefan Sweetser, 23, who was shot five times in the back of the head and back from close range near a Tarzana construction site.

The co-owner of Visions Windows and Door, David Thayne Smith, 34, is scheduled to go on trial today in the same case.

Evidence presented at Miller’s trial indicated that all three men were burglarizing San Fernando Valley construction sites and selling the spoils at the Burbank business that Smith and Sweetser owned.

Prosecutors argued that Miller and Smith wanted to split up to $80,000 in stolen computer equipment and $30,000 from Sweetser’s private bank account.

The Superior Court jury that convicted Miller, of Fountain Valley, ruled that the murder occurred during the course of a robbery, but the panel did not find that the killing was done for financial gain. Miller had been previously convicted of drug charges.

Superior Court Judge Sandy R. Kriegler will sentence Miller on July 7.