ALBANY — Erick Westervelt, who just last fall was studying at the University at Albany and aspiring to be a police officer, was convicted Wednesday afternoon of second-degree murder.

After a week-and-a-half trial and one full day of deliberation at the Albany County Courthouse, a jury handed down the guilty verdict. The 12 people were convinced that, using a hatchet, the 23-year-old Guilderland man beat Timothy Gray so severely in the head at his Bethlehem home that Gray died a few days later.

Although Westervelt left behind no DNA evidence, he did write and sign a confession. Prosecutors say he also had a motive: his ex-girlfriend had left him for Gray. (See related trial story.)

On Aug. 25, Westervelt will be sentenced by Judge Joseph C. Teresi.
"I’m very pleased," Assistant District Attorney David Rossi, who prosecuted the case, told The Enterprise after the verdict. "I think the Bethlehem Police Department did an outstanding job."
"I respect the jury," Mark Sacco, Westervelt’s attorney, said in response. "But, my client maintains his innocence that he didn’t do it. The proof is not there; there’s no forensics or eyewitnesses. He’s got an alibi."

The jury was most persuaded by Westervelt’s confession and the fact that he had a motive, Rossi said. The defense tried to convince the jury that Westervelt was interrogated in such a way that he made a false confession.
"The jury didn’t accept that he was coerced into a confession," Rossi said. He said he’s seen false-confession defenses before, but, "I’ve never seen it where the confession was written out and on video."
Westervelt will appeal, Sacco said. "There are significant appellate issues in the case."

Sacco alluded to another brutal murder in Bethlehem that occured soon after Gray’s; Peter Porco was bludgeoned to death in his home and his wife was severely injured. Sacco said that the same unknown assailant had committed both the Gray and Porco murders. No one has been charged in the Porco case.
Asked about Westervelt’s reaction to the verdict, Sacco said, "He’s devastated, of course. He’s facing 25 years to life for something he didn’t do."

Westervelt’s family, too, is taking the verdict hard, Sacco said. His parents, his brother, his three aunts, and some of his friends were in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

It’s a horrible fate for a boy who has never been in trouble, Sacco said.