Ex-Convict Guilty of Murder, May Get Death

An ex-convict could face the death penalty after a jury convicted him of murdering a man who tried to stop an attempted rape in Manhattan Beach, authorities said.

Wayne Arisman’s conviction on Wednesday also included a special circumstance of killing a witness and committing a murder during crimes of robbery, oral copulation and second-degree burglary.

The jury was scheduled to reconvene Monday in Superior Court for the penalty phase, in which it will recommend either the death sentence or life in prison without parole for the 50-year-old.

Michael Trinidad, 29, of Hacienda Heights was shot to death on April 25, 1997. He was delivering office supplies at a Manhattan Beach Boulevard store that had not yet opened for business after he and a partner walked in and witnessed Arisman committing sexual assault on a woman. Trinidad and his partner were handcuffed and beaten, and then Trinidad, who pleaded that his life be spared, was shot, officials said.

Arisman fled, but he was arrested nearby.

He had two prior felony convictions, including assault with a deadly weapon and first-degree burglary. He was sent to prison in 1990 for six years.