A 36-year-old U.S. Army veteran was convicted on July 20 of fatally beating a 68-year-old neighbor during an attempted rape in Garden Grove nearly six years ago.
Michael Aon Varela was convicted of murder with a special circumstance allegation of murder during an attempted rape.
It was Mr. Varela’s second trial. A previous jury deadlocked 7–5 for guilt, leading to a mistrial being declared on Oct. 26.
Mr. Varela, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 4, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jurors, who deliberated for about a day, had earlier sent a note asking if they could find the defendant guilty of second-degree murder with the special circumstance allegation. When they were told that was not legally possible, they found him guilty of first-degree murder and found the allegation true….