FORT WORTH -- It took a jury less than 45 minutes to decide Randy Seibel, the second suspect on trial in the Valero robbery, is guilty of capital murder.
Seibel, 38, will serve a life prison sentence with no chance for parole, prosecutors said.Attorneys for both sides in the case agreed Kwame Rockwell was the person who shot and killed the two men during a Valero convenience store robbery on March 23, 2010.Rockwell, one of five people charged with a crime in the case, was convicted in January and sentenced to death.The jury decided Seibel also bears responsibility for the deaths of Jerry Burnett, a 70-year-old bread truck driver, and Daniel Rojas-Torres, a 22-year-old store clerk."The defendant is guilty under the law of parties," said Sean Colston, prosecutor. "Why? Because when Randy Seibel went in the store with Kwame Rockwell, it was their intention that no one would leave alive. They spread gasoline all over the store. Burnett was covered in gasoline. They were going to light that store on fire."The jury could have found Seibel guilty of aggravated robbery, his defense attorneys argued.A participant in the robbery who confessed to his role as the lookout man during the crime received a 20-year prison sentence after agreeing to testify for the state, said Warren St. John, who represented Seibel. St. John asked the jury why Seibel should receive a different sentence."The government did not prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt that Randy Seibel was a willing participant in this crime," St. John said in his closing arguments.Mitch Mitchell, 817-390-7752Twitter: @mitchmitchel3Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
