EDINBURG — A South Texas man has been convicted of capital murder in the slaying of an 86-year-old World War II veteran during a robbery.
The Monitor of McAllen reports a jury in Edinburg found Leroy Arista guilty of capital murder on Friday in the 2011 death of Willis Kimmons, who was also a former Border Patrol agent.
The conviction carries an automatic life sentence without parole.
Prosecutors say Arista and another man, David Tarbutton, broke into the 86-year-old's home in Mission and beat him to death. Tarbutton pleaded guilty last year to capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Arista's defense attorney, Carlos A. Garcia, had told jurors that Tarbutton, who testified against Arista, was a liar and that the police investigation was flawed.