Eric Thomas Daniels had planned to get in a fistfight with a fellow inmate at the Central Utah Correctional Facility on July 6, 1994, defense attorneys say.
Instead, he ended up holding Lonnie Blackmon's legs while Troy Michael Kell stabbed Blackmon 67 times with a 3-inch makeshift knife.On Friday, a jury of four men and eight women deliberated just under two hours before convicting Daniels of aggravated murder in the racially motivated slaying.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty in a penalty phase before 6th District Judge Kay McIff beginning Monday at the prison. Daniels' trial spanned two weeks.
"There was a lot of evidence in this case . . . and (the jury) was provided with enough evidence to convict," Daniels' co-counsel Candice Johnson said Saturday from a Mt. Pleasant hotel room, where she was preparing penalty phase arguments.
"They had to do a job that was very difficult. Personally, I support the jury system and decision-making process. And we firmly believe Mr. Daniels' life should be spared in this case."
Prosecutors argued that Daniels helped Kell plan and carry out Blackmon's murder, Assistant Attorney General David Yocom said Saturday.
Prosecutors showed three video clips, taken from prison security cameras and a guard's handheld recorder, depicting the grisly murder scene in which Daniels lay across Blackmon's legs as Kell repeatedly stabbed him, Yocom said.
Similar footage was shown to jurors at Kell's trial last year, in which the slaying of Blackmon, who was black, was said to have been race-related. Kell was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. He has requested execution by firing squad.
But defense attorneys argued Daniels intended to fistfight and injure Blackmon, not kill him, Johnson said. They argued their client should have been found guilty of the lesser charge of murder, a first-degree felony carrying a penalty of up to life in prison.
Daniels arranged for a fight by forging a note to get Blackmon out of his cell, Johnson said. But Daniels planned to call it off when his fighting partner was in the shower.
Yet when Kell started fighting with Blackmon, Daniels jumped in and the fight turned into a homicide, Johnson said.
Daniels was transferred to the Utah State Prison at Point of the Mountain after the slaying, Johnson said. In 1992, he was convicted of forgery, a second-degree felony, and sentenced to serve up to 15 years in prison.
Kell was serving two consecutive life terms for a 1986 Nevada murder at the time of his conviction.
Two other inmates had been charged with aggravated murder in the slaying. John Frederick Cannistraci pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and was sentenced to serve an additional one to 15 years. Charges were dropped against Paul Richard Payne.
Before trial, Daniels was planning to plead guilty to murder, through which he would have avoided the death penalty.
Daniels' defense fund was dwindling at the time of plea negotiations. But when the Department of Corrections placed $100,000 in a defense trust fund, Sanpete County Attorney Ross Blackham withdrew would-be deals, defense attorney Patrick Anderson has said.
Anderson suspected that Corrections wanted Daniels to receive a death sentence in the slaying. Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said officials scraped up the money to keep the capital murder case afloat.
"We need to send a message to inmates that if you kill an inmate, your life's in jeopardy," Ford said Saturday. "We're going to seek the death penalty."
Legislative officials were gathering information to determine whether the money transfer from Corrections to another state department violated the Budgetary Procedures Act. Corrections and Attorney General Office budgets are separate line items.