TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
The scene of a more than 20 year-old murder scene near the University of Arizona
still has the landmark "Happiness is Submission to God" on the outside.
Jurors
said that they heard plenty of testimony, and evidence, that even almost 23
years later put Glen Francis at the stabbing that killed imam Rashad Khalifa.
"And this is towards the number of this important opening
statement to 114 or 19 times 6," Tucson imam Rashad Khalifa said in one of his
videotaped interpretations of the Quran before his murder on Jan. 31,
1990.
His mathematical interpretation of the Quran that earned Doctor
Khalifa notoriety, but it also brought him death threats when he rejected two
of its verses. He was stabbed to death.
The trial was hard for some
jurors to listen to.
"At times, yes, because of the nature of first degree
murder. By the same token, I feel like the prosecution gave a perfect
picture of what happened. And, even though it was 22 years ago I feel
like we were given a clear understanding of the case," said juror Louise Foltz.
"It did help with fingerprints and blood evidence and things
like that but, um, it did help us understand the case and what was going on,"
said juror Patricia Monz.
"A lot of memories probably were skewed but ultimately it
came down to the scientific evidence," said juror Gabriele Lochner.
The jurors sat through a week-long trial, and came back with a
decision in less than half a day. They said that some members of the
gallery were emotional during the verdict, but that Glen Francis did not
display any emotion as they announced him guilty of first degree murder.
"Well, his reaction was very much the
face that he held during the entire week of testimony, etcetera, very quiet, he
closed his eyes a lot, just very within himself, no bigger visible reaction
than that," Foltz said.
Francis' sentencing is set for next
month. He could face a sentence of 25 years to life.
Copyright 2012 Tucson News Now. All rights reserved.
