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SALT LAKE CITY -- Mignon Kone could only sit through two days of the five-day jury trial for the man accused of killing her husband.
"I can't stand in there listening to it," Kone said, pausing to wipe her eyes. "As long as they come back with a guilty verdict, I'll be OK."
After a little more than three hours of deliberation, a jury did just that. They found Jason Kyle Clark, 39, guilty of all nine charges, including aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, three counts of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies. He was also convicted of cruelty to animals, a class B misdemeanor.
He was shocked the jury could find him guilty on all the counts so quickly.
–Rudy Bautista
Clark shot and killed Kevin Brent Kone, 50, and injured two women at a South Salt Lake house on April 29, 2007, in a drug deal gone wrong.
Audra Snider-Gerdin, who lived at the home, was shot seven times and badly injured. Debra Lindner was shot eight times and also seriously hurt. Both women survived. Also shot and killed was Snider-Gerdin's service dog, Chloe.
Daniel Paul Blankenship, 34, was also charged in connection with the incident. He was originally charged with murder, burglary and two counts of aggravated kidnapping, all first-degree felonies. But he pleaded guilty to burglary, a second-degree felony, and the other charges were dismissed. His sentencing was postponed until after Clark's trial.
Defense attorney Rudy Bautista argued that Clark should be acquitted, stating that he believed his client was either misidentified or was named in a conspiracy to cover up the crime. He believes that Blankenship came up with "a game plan" to cover up his involvement and avoid heftier charges.
"He duped the state of Utah," Bautista said of Blankenship.
He also believed the state's witnesses had "numerous inconsistencies," the most important being that, at the time of the crime, the description of the shooter was a Hispanic male with tattoos.
"Jason is not Hispanic and he does not have tattoos," Bautista told the Deseret News.
[Kevin Brent Kone] wasn't an angel, but he was a protector and a fighter. He kept everybody together.
–Stephanie Farley
He believes Blankenship, though, fit the description of the third man victims described, who was an "Anglo Saxon male with light-colored hair."
Prosecutor Fred Burmester argued, however, that the physical evidence gathered from the scene and witness testimony made a strong case against Clark. He said those who survived the incident identified Clark as the shooter and the gun Clark was carrying when he was arrested matched that used in the crime.
"Audra Snider said she knew (Clark) beforehand so it wasn't a matter of mistaken identity," Burmester said. He said that while she initially told police she didn't know who attacked her in her home, she later testified that she was too scared at the time. She eventually identified Clark and Daniel Blankenship as those involved.
"Nobody ever testified that Daniel was the shooter," Burmester pointed out.
After the verdict was read, Bautista said his client -- who has maintained his innocence from the beginning and continued to say he knew nothing of the crime during what Bautista described as a "grueling five-hour interview with police" -- was "shocked" by the jury's findings.
"He was shocked the jury could find him guilty on all the counts so quickly," Bautista said.
He said he plans to appeal the decision and made a motion for a mistrial before the jury even left to make a decision. He said there are a "number of appellate issues in the case," and that he found the jury's findings to be disappointing.
Stephanie Farley, who credits Kevin Kone with raising her like she was his daughter, said she always thought Clark was to blame for taking their "loving grandpa, loving dad" from them. Farley said her daughter, who was 6 when Kone was killed, still cries about his death every day. "He wasn't an angel, but he was a protector and a fighter. He kept everybody together."
"He was the totem pole of our family. The sole provider. He was our hero," Mignon Kone added.
But Mignon Kone said she had no doubt that Clark was the man responsible and said she has been bothered by what she believes is a lack of remorse. She said she sat in court thinking of what it would be like to give the man a scar, one that he could see every day.
"To remind him of what he's done," she said. "He took a great man off the earth."
Clark will be sentenced Feb. 7. Stephanie said the family, who was "very pleased" with the verdict, hopes that Clark "goes to prison until the day he dies."
"That'll be justice," she said.
E-mail: emorgan@desnews.com
