Man Found Guilty in Killings of 2 Officers : Crime: He may face death penalty in 1993 Compton shootings. Case hinged on testimony of a witness who said he heard defendant brag about the murders.

A 24-year-old man who once reportedly said he killed two Compton police officers when “they slipped up” during a routine traffic stop in 1993 was convicted Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder.

Regis Deon Thomas faces the possibility of the death penalty for the murders of Officer Kevin Michael Burrell and Reserve Officer James Wayne MacDonald after a jury decided he was guilty of multiple murders and using a gun in the commission of a crime.

The verdict brought a rush of relief to the courtroom filled with Compton police officers, including one enthusiastic “Yes!” from a female officer. Throughout the courtroom, officers gently pounded knees with clenched fists.

Some family members of the two officers wept openly but did not talk to reporters after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edward A. Ferns forbade the media from approaching or contacting them. In his unusual ruling, Ferns said family members might be witnesses in the penalty phase of the trial, which will determine whether Thomas is put to death.

“This has been a long journey and a very emotional one,” said Compton Police Chief Hourie Taylor of the 27 months since Burrell, 29, and MacDonald, 23, were shot in the head execution-style on a Compton street after stopping Thomas’ truck. “This [conviction] is just a huge relief.”

Part of the relief for police and prosecutors was winning a case that was difficult at best, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Arnold. With three eyewitnesses unable to positively identify Thomas as the shooter, the case hinged on the testimony of one witness, Calvin Cooksey, who said he heard Thomas brag of killing the officers. Cooksey said he helped Thomas get rid of the gun; he was not charged in the case.

Though Thomas consistently claimed he was not the killer, defense attorney Jay Jaffe said Wednesday that he cannot predict what Thomas may say during the penalty phase, if he testifies. Thomas did not testify during the first phase of the trial.

“I can tell you he [Thomas] feels remorse,” Jaffe said after the verdict. “He feels badly for the victims and the victims’ families.”

Thomas was also convicted of second-degree murder in the gunshot death of Carlos Adkins in Los Angeles in early 1992, a crime unrelated to the officers’ murders.

The jury, which spent 13 days deliberating Thomas’ guilt, is due to return for the penalty phase May 31.

The verdict came as law enforcement officers from throughout the county were memorializing a sheriff’s deputy killed in Lynwood last week--and in the middle of national Peace Officers Memorial Week.

“This is not a time for joy,” said Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti. “Yes, there’s relief, but with a heavy heart. Because when you kill a police officer, you kill a part of the soul of the community.”

In the Compton Police Department, which prides itself on maintaining the close-knit quality of a small town in the inner city, the murders of Burrell and MacDonald were devastating. In the department’s 84-year history, only one officer had been killed on duty--in a traffic accident. Now two were fallen--one of them 90 minutes before the end of his last shift, the other a five-year veteran who had fulfilled his dream when he joined the department.

Burrell, a Compton native, came into the department as a 15-year-old Explorer Scout and was hooked. He answered phones as a volunteer and talked his way into countless ride-alongs with officers. MacDonald grew up in Santa Rosa, far from the inner city. On Feb. 22, 1993, MacDonald was on his last shift as a volunteer reserve officer, planning to pack for his move to San Jose to begin training as a regular officer on that force.

A light rain was falling intermittently as MacDonald and Burrell patrolled. Driving west along Rosecrans Avenue, they pulled over the red pickup truck near Dwight Avenue.

Within minutes, both officers lay dead on the wet asphalt--knocked to the ground by gunshots to their bulletproof vests or limbs, and then shot, execution-style, in the head.

Neither officer had called dispatchers to report the traffic stop or to request a background check on the truck’s license plate. The lack of such precaution caused endless speculation and left a cold trail for investigators.

The two officers were among six uniformed officers shot to death in the Southland during 1993.

In the first hours after the shooting, officers poured into the department, canceling vacations, days off, sick leave. They worked double and triple shifts canvassing neighborhoods, questioning residents, scouring the city for the red pickup truck seen by witnesses.

From the beginning, detectives worked under the assumption--since dismissed--that there were at least two assailants in the truck. Both Burrell and MacDonald were armed, but never had a chance to draw their guns. They thought it unimaginable that one armed man could get the upper hand over two officers.

Eventually, $45,000 in reward money was offered for information leading to a conviction. A toll-free line was set up to field hundreds of tips--most centered around the red truck.

As the weeks of investigation dragged on, the search for a killer led to breaks in five other cases. Detectives would release the name of a suspect, announce they were looking for him in connection with the officers’ deaths and another, unrelated case--and each time a suspect would turn himself in, believing he was no longer safe on the streets.

The arrests of those five suspects solved three unrelated murders and two attempted killings, police said.

Keith Terris Caldwell was convicted of the murder of his pregnant cousin. James Dion Smith and Alfredo Jose Lopez were convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in a drive-by shooting just hours before MacDonald and Burrell were killed. Jeffrey Paul Edwards was convicted of the Christmas Day, 1992, killing of a 21-year-old man. And Orlando Raymond Ford was convicted of murdering a 16-year-old.

Finally, on April 6, 1993, the dragnet caught Regis Deon Thomas of Los Angeles, who surrendered to a broadcast news reporter.