ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A federal jury in Alaska has convicted a man of murder in the shooting deaths of two of his co-workers at a Coast Guard communications station on Kodiak Island. The jury returned its verdict Friday in the case of 62-year-old James Wells. He was charged with killing Coast Guardsmen Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle (BEHL-eye-ul) in April 2012. Prosecutors had alleged Wells, a civilian, was unhappy that he was increasingly irrelevant on the job through the advancement of the victims. The jury convicted Wells of six felony charges: two counts each of first-degree murder, murder of a U.S. officer and use of a firearm in a violent crime. Federal prosecutors said earlier they would not seek the death penalty if he was convicted.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 22:39:17 +0000
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