FRENCH VALLEY: Penalty verdict reached for ex-Marine in murder trial

June 14, 2013 06:15 PM PDT June 14, 2013 06:30 PM PDT FRENCH VALLEY: Penalty verdict reached for ex-Marine in murder trial FRENCH VALLEY: Penalty verdict reached for ex-Marine in murder trial KURT MILLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Kevin Cox looks back to the gallery as he awaits for his verdict in Riverside Superior Court on Wednesday June 5,. Cox is one of three ex-Marines convicted of murder in the 2008 slayings of a Marine sergeant and his wife in French Valley. A Text Size Comments ( ) Jurors have reached a decision on whether one of three men who murdered a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant and his wife should receive the death penalty, but it will remain under seal until jurors reach verdicts for the other two defendants, authorities said. The jury for Kevin Cox, 25, began deliberating Thursday, June 13, and reached a verdict Friday. Cox, Tyrone Miller, 25, and Emrys John, 23, were found guilty June 5 of two counts of murder and allegations of burglary and robbery in the shootings of Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26. Testimony in the trial began in April and two juries heard the case against the three former Marines. Now, the same jurors are being asked to recommend the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The penalty phase of the trial began Monday and will continue next week with further testimony. A fourth defendant, Kesaun Sykes, 26, will be tried separately on the same charges. His next court date is scheduled for August. The Pietrzaks were newlyweds and had been living in their Bermuda Street house for a few months when four Marines armed with guns came to their door in the wee hours of Oct. 15, 2008, prosecutors have said. Several hours later, the couple's bodies were found in their ransacked home with gunshot wounds to their heads. Jenkins-Pietrzak was naked, bound and had been sexually assaulted. Her husband had been beaten and hog-tied. Cox, John and Miller all worked with Pietrzak — a helicopter mechanic — at one time while stationed at Camp Pendleton. Prosecutor Daniel DeLimon said the motive for the killings was robbery, but that the defendants also got a sadistic thrill out of committing crimes. Follow Sarah Burge on Twitter @sarahkburge or online at blog.pe.com/crime-blotter Latest Headlines
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