Roger Allen Malcolm 51, was charged with first-degree felony murder for the Dec. 26, 2007, shooting death of 31-year-old Verne Jenkins at Sapp Bros. Travel Center in Salt Lake City.
The 3rd District Court jury had the option of finding Malcolm guilty of the lesser crimes of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, or negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor. But jurors found Malcolm guilty as charged.
Witnesses said Malcolm - who waited more than 10 minutes at a closed cash register to buy a pack of gum - was being loud and obnoxious when Jenkins ordered him to leave the store.
Malcolm started to leave, but Jenkins was apparently intent on physically escorting him off the premises when a fight broke out, according to testimony.
Seconds into the fight, Malcolm shot Jenkins once in the throat.
Defense attorney Rudy Bautista argued Thursday that Jenkins had no right to forcibly remove Malcolm from the store, especially since the defendant was leaving of his own volition.
"He's leaving, and all of a sudden, he's attacked," Bautista said. "He was choked, tackled and slammed to the floor. Roger felt he had to defend himself."
But prosecutor Alicia Cook argued the shooting was unjustified because Malcolm used a gun against an unarmed man.
"You do not get to use deadly force against non-deadly force," Cook said.
She noted that prior to the gunshot, the altercation was so low-key that "most people [in the store] didn't even stop their transactions to see what was going on."
Both sides relied on footage from store security cameras to bolster their arguments.
The defense emphasized that the video shows Jenkins initiating physical contact by reaching for Malcolm.
The video shows them grapple and fall to the floor. The gunshot appears to be fired as Jenkins was leaning over Malcolm.
Malcolm had testified Wednesday that while on the floor, he had shown Jenkins his 9mm pistol, hoping Jenkins would let him go.
Malcolm said he then decided to fire a warning shot. He also claimed he thought Jenkins, armed only with pepper spray, was reaching for a gun.
The bullet pierced Jenkins throat and he died from blood loss and asphyxiation caused by damaged tissue that blocked his airway.
Cook, however, argued Malcolm had no time, and little ability, to have pulled the gun while wrestling on the floor with Jenkins.
"Mr. Malcolm had that gun out before they hit the ground, and the first chance he gets to use it was on the ground," Cook said.
She told the five-man, three-woman jury that murder was "the only verdict that makes any sense."
Malcolm - who worked as a heavy equipment mechanic - testified he had been carrying the pistol for about a year because he no longer felt safe in his neighborhood.
He said he completed the training required to carry a concealed weapon, but that he never paid the fee to get the actual permit.
