Jurors deliberated more than eight hours before returning the guilty verdict against Robert Hayes, who was linked by DNA evidence to the three victims after another killing in Palm Beach County, where he had been working as a chef until his arrest in Prosecutors will seek the death penalty during the sentencing phase beginning next week.
The victims were found slain in the city his senior year. The body of Laquetta Gunther, 45, was found in a gap between an auto parts store and a mostly empty utility building around Christmas Julie Green, 34, was found Jan.
The body of year-old Iwana Patton was found that Feb. All were nude, lying face down, shot in the head. The deaths caused widespread panic among sex workers in the Daytona Beach area, resulting in some of them working with investigators to memorize license plates and vehicle descriptions. Hayes also is accused in the killing of Rachel Bey, 32, a prostitute whose body was found, strangled and with her jaw and teeth broken, on March 7, , near Jupiter in Palm Beach County.
It took three more years before investigators said DNA recovered from all four killings led them to arrest Hayes at his home in West Palm Beach. Police said he bought the gun in , shortly before the first victim was killed. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.
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