Marines Guilty in Laptop Murder Case
Men recruited brain-damaged Marine to commit killing
Friday, Jul 3, 2009 | Updated 12:15 PM PST
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A laptop and cocaine were both involved in the killing, according to investigators.
A jury has found two former Marines guilty of murdering a 22-year-old Long Beach man in a dispute over a laptop.
Anthony Vigeant and Trevor Landers, both ex-Camp Pendleton Marines, were convicted on Thursday of killing David Pettigrew in 2007.
Prosecutors contend Pettigrew was shot when the men went to retrieve a laptop because he had failed to pay them with an ounce of cocaine. Authorities claim the men got former Cpl. Ramon Hernandez -- who received severe brain injuries in a 2004 Iraq bombing -- to kill Pettigrew. Hernandez pleaded guilty to murder in April and testified on behalf of the prosecution.
Landers and Vigeant are scheduled to return to the Long Beach Superior Court on Aug. 3 for sentencing.
