Updated: Former LAFD Captain Convicted of 2nd Degree Murder

A jury Thursday morning found former Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. David Del Toro guilty of second-degree murder in the 2006 killing of Jennifer Flores.

The unanimous verdict was handed down by a 12-member jury panel in a packed courtroom presided over by L.A. County Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus, bringing to an end a prolonged jury selection followed by a month-long trial and one of the longest-running murder cases in Los Angeles’ recent memory. (Judge Lance Ito was away on a court-related speaking engagement in Sacramento.)

In its verdict, the jury chose not to convict Del Toro of either manslaughter, a lesser charge, or first-degree murder, a more serious charge. Del Toro faces 15 years to life; no date has been set for sentencing yet.

Update: said it could be a while before Del Toro is sentenced. Grace also said that although Del Toro is eligible for parole after 15 years, it's fairly difficult for murder convicts to get parole in California.

Del Toro, a 23-year veteran of the Fire Department, was convicted in the murder of Flores, a 42-year-old San Gabriel woman whose mangled and nearly nude body was found two blocks from his Eagle Rock home on Aug. 16, 2006. A trail of Flores’ blood and DNA led detectives to the fire captain’s residence.

Del Toro, 54, had pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, arguing that he suffered from an alcohol-induced blackout that prevented him from remembering exactly what happened on the night Flores was killed.

The veteran firefighter admitted, however, that instead of calling police he tried to clean a bloody mess in his living room on the night of Flores’ murder—and then failed to mention the clean-up effort to police.

Further Update: Defense attorney Joseph Gutierrez plans to file a motion on April 15 for possible mistrial, based on any evidence that he might be able to present to Judge Ito, showing whether the 12-member jury was influenced by the comments of a juror who was ordered to leave the jury panel last Monday, March 14, for violating Ito's instructions to focus only on Del Toro's conduct and not to discuss prison sentences arising from his alleged misconduct during jury deliberations. The day after that juror's name was struck off the jury panel, a second juror said she did not believe she could reach a fair verdict after having heard comments pertaining to sentencing.

Check back for more details about the verdict and its implications in our upcoming story.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Judge Lance Ito presided over Thursday's court session. Patch regrets the error.