CLEVELAND — A jury has found Joseph McAlpin guilty on all counts including aggravated murder in the killing a Cleveland couple at the Mr. Cars dealership two years ago.
The verdict was announced on Tuesday evening by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Brian Corrigan. You can watch our coverage in the player below:
The more than two dozen charges against McAlpin, 31, included aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping and cruelty to animals in the April 2017 deaths of Mike and Trina Kuznik, who were both found fatally shot at their E. 185th Street dealership.
The couple's 19-year-old son found the bodies. Their dog was also killed.
McAlpin chose to represent himself in court during the 22-day trial and may now face the death penalty. The sentencing phase of the trial will begin on Monday as prosecutors present evidence demonstrating that McAlpine deserves the death penalty.
The jury will make a recommendation of either life in prison, life without parole, or death. The judge will then decide the sentence.
"McAlpin thought he was smarter than everyone else. And he thought he could plan this crime and get away with it and he just didn’t realize how easy it is to catch individuals that commit this type of crime," said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley after the trial.
O'Malley added that McAlpin underestimated the amount of evidence the prosecution would bring forward, saying the 31-year-old is 'absolutely' a career criminal who didn't learn.
"It was an individual who just was not rehabilitated and the violence of his crimes just continued to escalate and you know leading to today’s event where we you know he’s looking at the potential of being on death row in the state of Ohio," said O'Malley.
Two more men, 24-year-old Jerome Diggs, Jr., and 25-year-old Andrew Keener, were also arrested in connection to the crimes in November 2017. According to court records, Keener pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in February, while Diggs' pretrial is scheduled later this month.
McAlpin previously served nine years in prison for aggravated robbery prior to his release in 2016.