COLORADO SPRINGS — The jury in the trial of Fort Carson soldier Robert Hull Marko found him guilty Thursday of first-degree murder and sexual assault in the October 2008 death of Judilianna Lawrence.
Marko, 23, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced by Fourth Judicial District Judge Larry E. Schwartz on Feb. 28.
The verdict comes after the nine-woman, three-man jury deliberated for about 10 hours over two days
During the more than three-week trial, Marko’s public defenders had argued that he is severely mentally ill. They noted he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by age 9 after an abusive childhood in western Michigan.
That mental illness was made worse after an 11-month tour of combat duty in Iraq, they contended.
Prosecutors countered that Marko knew exactly what he was doing when he raped Lawrence, bounded and gagged her, tied her to a tree and slit her throat. John C. Ensslin, The Gazette
