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BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — A man has been convicted of first-degree murder for killing two Colorado teenagers who allegedly tried to blackmail him.
Jurors reached the verdict against 43-year-old William Otto in Brighton on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Otto killed Jonathan Gonzalez and Gustavo Espinosa-Gamboa after they allegedly asked for money for a cellphone video showing him asking to perform a sexual act on one of them.
Defense lawyers said Otto killed them in self-defense. They argued the blackmail attempt didn't work, so the teens reverted to an original plan to rob Otto and threatened him with a knife.
Investigators say Otto buried the bodies in shallow graves near the Nebraska border.
The Denver Post (http://bit.ly/1tLrszm ) reports that Otto burned most of the evidence, including the boys' phones, and the video was never found.
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