DENVER—A Thornton man has been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two of his neighbors.
Thirty-eight-year-old Lance Leroy McDermed received two life sentences Friday in Adams County District Court for the slayings of 44-year-old Marco Escobedo and 41-year-old wife Vera Escobedo.
The couple was gunned down Feb. 16, 2008, after answering a knock at their door. They lived near McDermed in a condominium complex.
McDermed turned himself in to police two days later.
District attorney’s spokeswoman Krista Flanigan says District Court Judge Francis Wasserman also sentenced McDermed to 12 years on a burglary conviction in the case.
Neighbors say McDermed had several run-ins with the Escobedos over the years, and Vera Escobedo filed a complaint with police in July 2007 saying McDermed had verbally harassed her.
———
Information from: The Denver Post,
