(UPDATE: The murder trial for Randy Seibel that was scheduled to begin this week has been postponed due to a scheduling problem with some witnesses, according to court personnel.)
FORT WORTH -- Jury selection begins this week for a man charged with the murders of a Mrs Baird's delivery driver and a 22-year-old convenience store clerk.Prosecutors say Randy Keith Seibel, 36, of Granbury is the right-handed gunman who helped rob a gas station and convenience store March 23, 2010. Jerry Burnett, 70, and the station attendant, Daniel Rojas-Torres, were killed.They were shot in the head during the robbery of the Valero gas station at 4125 Mansfield Highway. Rojas-Torres died immediately, but Burnett, of Joshua, called 911. He died in a hospital 10 days later.Kwame Rockwell, 36, a co-defendant in the capital murder case, was sentenced to death after being tried in January. Tarrant County prosecutors are not pursuing the death penalty against Seibel, and the maximum sentence he could receive is life in prison with no chance for parole.Two other co-defendants, Timothy Vashaun Thomas, 22, and Tyrone Pierre Thomas, 26, are awaiting trial on capital murder charges. A fifth defendant, Chance McKenzie Smith, 25, of Fort Worth, who drove the getaway car, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.Surveillance video played during Rockwell's trial shows the robbers working rapidly after stepping inside the store shortly after 6 a.m. Two gunmen wearing dark clothing and ski masks entered first, followed by a man holding a gas can.The first two chased Rojas into the store office, where they forced him at gunpoint to collect a bag of cash from a freezer and the two cash registers. He cooperated fully with his hands up, the video shows, but the left-handed robber shot him in the head as the men turned to leave.Prosecutors have said a co-conspirator told investigators that Rojas was shot because he could identify the robbers who worked next door at a used-car business and were frequent customers.During Rockwell's trial a forensic video expert told jurors that a second robber, believed to be Seibel, held a gun in his right hand. The forensics expert testified that the first man through the door was apparently left-handed and was taller and had darker skin than the second gunman.Seibel is white. In the video, glimpses of skin are visible on the men's wrists and the back of their necks.This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.Mitch Mitchell, 817-390-7752Twitter: @mitchmitchel3Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
