NEW ORLEANS - A jury took only about 90 minutes to find Terry Speaks guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the death and dismemberment of a Bourbon Street dancer in June 2012.
He was also convicted of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice.
Speaks, dressed in a dark suit, hung his head and then shook it as the verdict was read. He was handcuffed and briskly taken from the courtroom.
Speaks now faces a mandatory life sentence. His sentencing is set for July 8.
Speaks testified in his own defense Friday and built most of his case on an unnamed man that he said he arranged for Jaren Lockhart to have paid sex with and another unnamed man who he let borrow his car.
Speaks and Margaret Sanchez, who will be tried at a later date, were seen on surveillance video leaving a Bourbon Street club with Lockhart. Her body parts washed ashore on the Mississippi Gulf coast a few days later.
Speaks said that while Lockhart left with he and Sanchez, they didn't kill her, though he said he did feel responsible as he said he left her with another man after arranging for Lockhart to have paid sex with the man.
Surveillance video as well as some video showing Speaks' vehicle traveling towards the Gulf Coast, were used as the basis of the prosecution's case.
Speaks began the trial by getting rid of his defense attorney and representing himself, which he did in opening arguments. By the end of the day he had called it quits and had his attorney back in charge.
Two requests for mistrials based on errors he might have made were denied.
Prosecutors slammed Speaks for his sudden, on-the-stand show of emotion, tears they implied were reserved for jurors and the judge. Speaks said he did blame himself for Lockhart's fate, but said he didn't kill her and his past misdeeds, including some sex crimes and the use of an alias, caused him to initially run from police and to try to hide his record.
