MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. -- A jury Friday convicted a teenager of helping his older cousin stab a 15-year-old runaway girl to death, remove and skin her head, and slice the body into pieces.
Augustin Pena, 16, was found guilty of first-degree murder -- which carries a mandatory sentence of life without the possiblity of parole -- as well as conspiracy to commit murder and mutilation of a corpse. His cousin, Jaime Rodriguez, 22, was convicted of the same charges in June.
Pena stared straight ahead without expression upon hearing the verdict while the family of victim Stephanie Dubay gasped in relief.
The jury of nine women and three men began deliberations late Thursday after hearing a long discourse from prosecutor Carl Marlinga about Pena's willing submission to the evil influence of Rodriguez through devil worship.
Dubay, who had run away from her family home in Clinton Township, was slain July 11, 1990, in the basement of Pena's mother's house in Warren, a Detroit suburb.
On behalf of the family, her father, Robert Dubay, thanked the judge, jury and police 'and everyone else who prayed for Stephanie and her family who got us through the last 14 months of senseless grief.'
'It'll never be over,' Dubay said. 'We can never replace Stephanie.'
Marlinga said Pena tried to disassociate himself from Rodriguez' satanism, saying Pena contended it was Rodriguez who wanted the skull and finger from Dubay's body.
'We learned a couple of things about Augie Pena,' Marlinga said. 'I believe it's fair to point out, Augie, that you've got a connection with satanism yourself.'
Marlinga said Rodriguez' confession stated that Pena, who was fascinated by his cousin's stories, eventually said at the kitchen table one morning, 'Let's kill Steph.'
'Rodriguez may indeed have been the master, but Pena was a willing student,' Marlinga said. 'Jaime Rodriguez led him down the path.'
Pena's lawyer, Dennis Johnston, argued that Marlinga's case 'falls light years short' of proving Pena's active and intentional participation. He urged the jury to disregard sensational publicity surrounding the case and make a decision based only on evidence presented in court.
In closing arguments, Marlinga read aloud a poem Pena sent from his jail cell to his girlfriend, Kelley Raikes. It ended with the lines:
'When you go to sleep tonight, just remember what I've said,
'I wouldn't look right now because he might be under your bed.'
The prosecutor asked jurors to consider the mind of a person who would compose such a verse.
Dubay's head was found in the freezer compartment of the kitchen refrigerator by a young woman Rodriguez had called to the house. Dubay's body parts were found in plastic bags buried in the yard.
