Man, 27, Convicted of Execution-Style Murder of Guard : Court: Jury rules Sean Darnell Slade killed the man during a 1992 robbery. He could face the death penalty.

In a verdict that could lead to the death penalty, a jury on Tuesday convicted Sean Darnell Slade of the execution-style murder of a guard during an armed robbery.

Slade, 27, was found guilty of murdering Edwin Maldonado, a 26-year-old employee of Sectran Security Transportation, who was gunned down July 29, 1992, during a robbery at a Home Depot store in San Fernando.

“I’m jumping for joy, I’m just so happy,” said Maldonado’s best friend, Andy Marreno who also works in the security industry. “I’m sure his mom will feel the same way.”

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury, which heard the bulk of the case in Van Nuys because of earthquake damage to the San Fernando courthouse, deliberated three days before convicting Slade of first-degree murder.

“I’m very pleased with the verdict in this case,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia L. Ulfig. “I originally saw this case when it was carried by the news . . . and I knew it was a case I wanted to be involved in.”

Slade was “visibly upset by the verdict and somewhat confused,” said defense attorney Bruce Hill. Slade’s niece, Mia Thomas, quietly cried in the gallery during the short proceeding.

The jury of seven men and five women determined that Maldonado was killed during a robbery and while Slade was lying in wait. The convictions on those two special circumstance allegations mean Judge Ronald S. Coen has only two sentencing options--the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Coen will decide after the jury makes its recommendation. The panel will reassemble March 28 for the penalty phase of the trial.

“His past history will come out, obviously, as part of the penalty phase,” Ulfig said.

During the trial, Slade admitted that he was paroled only 25 days before the killing, after serving about four years in a manslaughter case. Prosecutors said the jury will soon learn how in that case Slade emptied his gun while the victim was seated in a chair.

That killing came 2 1/2 months after Slade escaped from a California Youth Authority prison, Ulfig said. He was serving a term for an armed robbery at a restaurant when he was 17.

During the penalty phase, jurors will also hear about Maldonado, his family and his tenure with the Pasadena Police Department.

Slade has maintained his innocence, claiming mistaken identity.

Testifying on his own behalf, Slade told the jury that he was visiting with friends and picking up his wife from work when the guard was shot. The defense had claimed Slade was set up by Elizabeth Floyd, the mother of the man Slade killed in 1987.

Ulfig suggested the identifications of two eyewitnesses convinced the jury.

A 27-year-old Home Depot employee, who was standing about five feet away when Maldonado was shot, positively identified Slade as the gunman, which both attorneys agreed was key to the case. “He was a good witness, obviously, a very sincere young man,” Hill admitted.

Additionally, the only question asked by the jury concerned the testimony of another man who said he saw Slade sitting in a car in the Home Depot parking lot about four hours before the crime.