Suspected La. serial killer convicted

PORT ALLEN, La., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A Louisiana jury has convicted a suspected serial killer in the first of four murder trials.

Derrick Todd Lee is expected to receive a life sentence next week for the murder of Geralyn Barr DeSoto, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. He was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday.

Prosecutors portrayed Lee as a cold-blooded killer with "ice water running through his veins," using DNA test results and circumstantial evidence in their case.

Defense lawyers focused on DeSoto's troubled marriage. At one time investigators focused on the victim's husband but they found evidence to support his alibi.

Lee has been linked to the deaths of seven women in the Baton Rouge area and an attack on an eighth woman.

If Lee is convicted in his next trial, the murder of Charlotte Murray Pace, he could receive the death penalty.