A Brooklyn jury has convicted 19-year-old John Katehis of second degree murder in a retrial of the 2009 killing of gay newsman George Weber, whom Katehis, a satanist, stabbed more than 50 times after arranging a meeting on Craigslist.
Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, delivered an effective closing argument on November 14, telling jurors that Katehis, now 19, may have planned Weber’s murder and perhaps even tortured the 47-year-old victim before killing him.
Nicolazzi declined to comment in the wake of the verdict’s announcement.
Jurors began deliberating around noon on the 14th and announced they had a verdict by 3 p.m. on November 15. During their deliberations, they reviewed parts of the judge’s instructions to them and a few pieces of evidence. The speed of their verdict suggests they easily adopted the prosecution’s theory.
A previous trial resulted in a hung jury in October 2010.
