2 Gang Members Found Guilty of 3 Murders

Two La Puente men were convicted Tuesday of murdering an adult and two teenage boys who were mistaken for rival gang members. The sentencing phase of the trial, in which jurors will recommend either the death penalty or life in prison without parole, begins Thursday.

After little more than a day of deliberations, a Pomona jury found Nicholas Santino Rodriguez, 23, and Arthur Torres, 25, guilty of the May 11, 1999, murders of Tommy Garnica, Juan Gonzalez and Humberto Salas. The two were also convicted of robbery, attempted robbery, assault with a firearm, carjacking and torture.

Rodriguez and Torres robbed and shot Garnica, 16, and Gonzalez, 15, both of Baldwin Park. Salas was attacked later that evening. Authorities say his eyes were gouged out before he was strangled with his own T-shirt.