Ex-Marine guilty of murder, could face execution

By Matthew Barakat
Published April 8, 2014 7:24pm ET
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Ex-Marine guilty of murder, could face execution
FILE - These undated family photos provided by the Zion, Ill., Police department show Krystal Tobias, 9, and Laura Hobbs, 8. Prosecutors seeking the death penalty against an ex-Marine began making their case to a federal jury Monday, saying he killed a fellow service member as part of a series of violent attacks against young women. Jorge Torrez, 25, is charged with premeditated murder in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, and could face the death penalty if convicted in the July 2009 death of Amanda Snell. DNA also linked Torrez to the 2005 killings of Hobbs and Tobias in Illinois, Torrez's home state. Laura's father, Jerry Hobbs, was originally charged in that case and spent five years in custody until the DNA evidence pointed to Torrez. Hobbs said he was coerced into a false confession. Illinois prosecutors are still waiting to put Torrez on trial. (AP Photo/Family photo via the Zion Police Department) | Anonymous

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — An ex-Marine was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder in the 2009 slaying of a fellow service member, and now faces a possible death sentence for what prosecutors say was just one among a series of violent, stalking attacks on young women in northern Virginia.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Alexandria convicted Jorge Torrez, 25, of killing Navy Petty Officer Amanda Snell in July 2009. Both lived in the barracks on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington County.

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