A jury in Marion County has found Michael Bargo guilty of first-degree murder in the brutal beating, shooting death and dismemberment of 15-year-old Seath Jackson.
The jury must now decide whether Bargo, 21, should face the death penalty for the 2011 murder.
It only took a jury about three hours to reach their verdict after closing arguments Tuesday morning, during which Bargo's own defense attorney said his client was "guilty as hell" of second-degree murder, but urged the jury not to convict Bargo of murder in the first degree.
Defense attorney Charles Holloman argued prosecutors have not proven that the murder of Seath Jackson was premeditated.
Bargo had claimed on the stand Monday that he didn't take part in the teen's murder two years ago at all. Holloman told jurors Tuesday that he would "leave that testimony for what it is."
In his own defense Monday, Bargo testified that all he was guilty of is helping to hide the body and said Kyle Hooper is to blame.
Prosecutors said Bargo and four others lured Jackson to a home where they beat and shot him. They then dismembered and burned his remains, dumping them in paint cans and throwing them in a rock quarry.
On the stand, Bargo said he wasn’t even at the home when Jackson was killed and that someone stole his gun and he returned to the home to find Jackson’s body being burned.
The state called Hooper back to the stand as a rebuttal witness. Hooper is serving a life sentence for the murder and said Bargo was the mastermind, but Bargo denies it.
“I heard more shots go off and I ran into the bathroom and Mike had shot him a few more times and Mike was yelling at him,” said Hooper.
Four others in the case have been convicted. Charlie Kay Ely, 19, was sentenced to life in prison. Justin Soto, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Siblings Amber Wright, 16, and Kyle Hooper, 17, were both found guilty of first-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison without parole.