Shaffer
02-14-03, 07:24 AM
An ex-Marine accused of fatally shooting his wife, girlfriend and 5-year-old daughter to start a new life with another woman was convicted Wednesday of capital murder.
Zachary M. Cooper, 24, could get the death penalty during the trial's sentencing phase, which begins Thursday.
Jurors deliberated more than 10 hours over two days. Cooper bowed his head and closed his eyes after the verdict was read.
Prosecutors said Cooper wanted to "clear the decks" to begin a relationship with a married neighbor at Fort Knox, Ky. They said he lured the victims -- wife Maya, 22; daughter Dessire, 5; and girlfriend Marie Gault, 20 -- to an Arlington motel room in January 2002 to kill them.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-triple-slaying0213feb12,0,6885957.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines
Zachary M. Cooper, 24, could get the death penalty during the trial's sentencing phase, which begins Thursday.
Jurors deliberated more than 10 hours over two days. Cooper bowed his head and closed his eyes after the verdict was read.
Prosecutors said Cooper wanted to "clear the decks" to begin a relationship with a married neighbor at Fort Knox, Ky. They said he lured the victims -- wife Maya, 22; daughter Dessire, 5; and girlfriend Marie Gault, 20 -- to an Arlington motel room in January 2002 to kill them.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-triple-slaying0213feb12,0,6885957.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines