Two men convicted of fatally shooting another man three years ago at a Fourth of July party were sentenced Monday to up to life in prison.
Marco Mike Heimuli and Anthony David Milligan were each found guilty in September of first-degree felony murder for the July 4, 2006, death of 18-year-old Tevita Vaenuku.
A jury also found both men guilty of second-degree felony attempted murder for wounding Vaenuku's friend, Kyle Durr, in the arm and side.
Judge Randall Skanchy sentenced Heimuli and Milligan to the maximum term of eight years to life by adding gun enhancements and running the two terms consecutively.
"There isn't much sense that can be made of such things," Skanchy said during the sentencing. "They are horrible, awful things."
Vaenuku's father, George Vaenuku, had told the judge, "I don't like what they did to my son, but I believe I need to forgive them."
But sister-in-law Sina Vaenuku asked for the maximum penalty, describing the effect on the family as "a void that will never be filled, a pain that will never go away."
Vaenuku and two friends arrived at a party near 1800 West and 400 North in Salt Lake City after his girlfriend called to report trouble brewing among some women.
But Vaenuku and his friends were chased away by Heimuli and Milligan, who fired more than a dozen rounds from two guns. Vaenuku died at the scene. Police later discovered a third man on a rooftop with a rifle.
Heimuli, 23, and Milligan, 22, are gang members, while Vaenuku was not, prosecutors said.
But the slaying was gang-related in the sense that tensions were high at the party because of an earlier confrontation with a rival gang. People got their guns ready, including posting the rooftop sniper, prosecutors said.
At trial, defense attorney Robin Ljungberg argued self-defense on behalf of Milligan, claiming Vaenuku might have had a gun.
Defense attorney Monty Sleight said Monday that Heimuli continues to deny any involvement in the shooting.
Sleight noted that Heimuli has "little or no adult criminal record."
Milligan, on the other hand, is serving 15 years to life for the fatally shooting 25-year-old Marchello Cecala on Sept. 17, 2006, as the victim drove away from a party in Murray.
