A jury Monday convicted a man of first-degree murder in the slaying of his brother-in-law, a Persian Gulf war veteran.
Michael Cato, 20, had tears in his eyes and held his head in his hands after the verdict was announced.Anthony Riggs, 22, of Las Vegas, Nev., was gunned down in front of his wife's relatives' home March 18 shortly after returning to Detroit from war duty in what originally was thought to have been random street violence.
The case took a different twist, however, when authorities charged Cato and his sister - Rigg's wife, Toni - with conspiring to kill the Army specialist in a plot to collect his life insurance benefits.
Charges were dropped against Toni Riggs after a judge ruled that Cato's confession could not be used against her. Prosecutors are appealing that ruling.
During his trial, Cato denied killing Riggs and said his confession was fabricated by police.
Riggs was a Patriot missile crew member during the gulf war. Police said Cato fired two shots into his head as he was packing a rental van to move his wife and her 3-year-old daughter to an apartment in suburban Warren.