After deliberating less than two hours, a jury in Florida found Juan Mendez, Jr., 31, guilty of two counts of second degree murder for the deaths of his estranged wife and mother-in-law.
They also found him guilty of the use of a weapon in the commission of that felony.
According to court testimony, in July 2006 Mendez murdered his wife, Whitney Mendez, and her mother, Lorena Stone. Prosecutors alleged that Mendez became enraged after he believed that his wife was trying to prevent him from seeing their son.
When the murders were discovered, their two year old son was found strapped to a high chair in the hot summer sun for as long as eight to nine hours.
Mendez’s family believes that the jury erred.
"It's just B.S. pretty much. What evidence did they have to connect him to that? Nothing," said Mendez's brother, Wilbert Brown, according to NBC News.
But the family of the victims feels that justice has been served.
"For us, today, there was justice," Carol Orr, Whitney’s still grieving sister, said.
Mendez is scheduled to be sentenced on February 22, 2010.
High drama followed the murder investigation. Mendez, after being arrested in in February 2007 and charged with their deaths, was released from jail the following month following a grand jury refusing to indict Mendez with first degree murder. Mendez was arrested again in July 2007 and subsequently charged with two counts of second degree murder.
Comments
This was a horrible crime but i believe that Juan Mendez was innocent yes he was guilty of domestic abuse but i dont think he would of have went to the extent of murder knowing they has a son with disabilities
Guilty.....soooooo obvious!!! The whole family is obviously in denial.....juan mendez jjr snapped out and unhumanly killed 2 people.....he should suffer the consequences.
He is guilty thank God he won't be walking the streets. I worked with the girl who was murdered and she always complained to me about how awful Mendez was. When I would say "Why don't you break up with him," she said "He would kill me." she told me a few times she was afraid he would kill her AND HE DID. What a sick man I hope he dies in jail. He really thought he was going to get away with it they arrested him a few hours before the time limit to charge him expired.
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