CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A jury has convicted a man charged with plotting to kill a gate company employee who was gunned down while working in central Kentucky.
The Advocate Messenger (https://bit.ly/1jnqR4h) reports jurors deliberated for just more than an hour Tuesday before returning with their verdict against David Salyers.
Salyers was one of five people charged in connection to the 2012 death of Wendall “Gleason” Pyles, who was found shot to death at Tarter Gate Co. in Casey County.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Salyers wanted Pyles dead because he owed him money for a motorcycle and didn’t show him the proper respect before quitting the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club.
Prosecutor Shawna Virgin Kincer declined to say much after the verdict because she will also prosecute others accused in the case. She said when jurors return quickly with a verdict that it “typically says they have strong opinions about the case.”
“We feel that justice was served in this case and we hope the family can have some closure now, but we have another trial coming up on Sept. 15,” she said.
Salyers’ attorney, Jude Hagan, declined to comment after the verdict other than to say an appeal was certain.
Jurors recommended a 20-year prison sentence. Formal sentencing was set for March 7.
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Information from: The (Danville, Ky.) Advocate-Messenger, https://www.centralkynews.com/amnews
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