Golden – Michael Quinn Tate was found guilty Monday of first-degree felony murder in the 2004 stabbing and bludgeoning death of his friend’s father.
Across the aisle, victim Steven Fitzgerald’s widow sobbed as the jury’s findings were announced.
“It’s been a long three years. It’s what is fair, and it’s about justice,” Kris Fitzgerald said, adding it haunts her that Steven “died without anyone there and me not at his side.”
Tate, now 19, will be sentenced Nov. 2. The conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Tate’s attorney, Shawna Geiger, said he may not have understood the verdict. She had argued during the trial that he was insane at the time of Fitzgerald’s murder.
Tate and Fitzgerald’s son, Michael, broke into the family’s Westminster home in November 2004 with the intention of taking items and were surprised by Steven Fitzgerald.
During a fight in the garage, Tate stabbed Fitzgerald so hard it broke his ribs and then hit him in the face with a shovel, testimony showed. Michael Fitzgerald said he was angry with his father, and hit him in the stomach with a posthole digger.
Michael Fitzgerald, now 20, was sentenced in March to 62 years in prison for his role in his father’s death. As part of a plea bargain, he testified against Tate in the 2½-week- long trial.
Michael Fitzgerald’s testimony was “pretty crucial” in dismantling Tate’s insanity defense by showing that Tate knew what he was doing, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Weimer.
The jury received the case late Wednesday and deliberated for three days.
Jurors pushed aside the insanity defense on all charges. The panel found him not guilty of “first-degree murder after deliberation” and not guilty of “conspiracy to commit murder,” but found him guilty on eight other counts, including burglary, theft, criminal trespass and attempted aggravated motor-vehicle theft.
“Obviously, it’s not what we’ve hoped for for Michael,” said Geiger, who asked the jury to send Tate to the state mental hospital instead of prison. “It means he’s not going to get the help he needs.”
Geiger, who said appeal options will be examined, said it was important to note in the court record that one juror was crying with her head in her hands during the reading of the verdict.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
