Youth Found Sane at Time of Killings
A Las Vegas teenager was sane when he killed four members of his family in a Vista condominium, a San Diego County Superior Court jury determined Friday.
The jury was split 10-2 over the fifth murder, that of Joshua Jenkins’ father, George Jenkins.
Jenkins, who was 15 years old at the time of the murders, pleaded guilty in April, which meant jurors were left to determine whether he was sane or insane. The jury also determined that Jenkins was sane when he set fire to the condominium after the slayings.
The verdict means he could be sentenced next month to life in prison. Jenkins, who turned 17 Thursday, is ineligible for the death penalty because he is a juvenile.
Jenkins was visiting his grandparents with his parents and 10-year-old sister, Megan, when he killed them Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, 1996. Jenkins killed his parents and grandparents in the early morning hours by hitting them in the head with a hammer and stabbing them. After the murders, he set the condominium on fire and fled in his parents’ Mercedes-Benz. Police arrested him a few miles from the scene.
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