A City Heights man was found guilty Friday of drugging, raping and murdering Dane Williams, a San Diego convention-goer from Orange County whose body was discovered in an alley days after mysteriously disappearing from downtown.
Philong Huynh, 40, heard his conviction read inside a San Diego Superior Court at about 4 p.m., just hours after the jury began deliberating.
Williams, 23, of Huntington Beach, was last reported seen with friends in the Gaslamp District in January 2008 while in town for the 2008 Action Sports Retailers Convention.
Three days later, his body was found in a Landis Street alley, within blocks of Huynh’s home.
Huynh was found guilty of first-degree murder while in commission of oral copulation and while in commission of sodomy.
Huynh drugged Williams to have sex with him.
Huynh, arrested in September 2009, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. He will be sentenced Aug. 12.
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"This guy is nothing to me," said Jim Williams, Dave's father. "He is nothing. This guy doesn't deserve our thoughts."
The verdict was originally scheduled to be read at 2:45 p.m., but Judge Robert O'Neill delayed it so Williams' parents could be present. Eight family members entered the courtroom together.
The family hugged and cried when exiting.
"The healing process can begin," said Valen Williams, Dane's mother, outside the courtroom. "In every way, this was horrible."
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