Suspect not guilty in death of Bedford store clerk

Posted Tuesday, Jul. 08, 2008 Comments   (0) Print Share Share Reprints
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By CANDACE CARLISLE

ccarlisle@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — One of three robbers accused of robbing and killing a Bedford store clerk last summer was found not guilty of capital murder.

A Tarrant County jury of 11 women and one man took about five hours Tuesday to exonerate 39-year-old Fredrick Hughes in the holdup and killing of Gaurab “Paco” Rajbanshi.

Hughes faced an automatic life sentence because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

The capital murder trial of a second suspect, Jeffery Dodson, 39, is scheduled for July 29 in Fort Worth.

Dodson was accused of being the shooter in the June 11, 2007, holdup at the D&S Food Mart in the 1500 block of E. Pipeline Road.

According to prosecutors, Hughes waited in a gold Suburban while his cousins, Jeffery and Theodis Dodson, 40, went into the convenience store.

Jeffery Dodson is accused of shooting Rajbanshi, 28, a college student from Nepal who had worked at the store for two years.

Dodson’s brother, Theodis, pleaded guilty to capital murder in March and was sentenced to life in prison.

CANDACE CARLISLE, 817-685-3821

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