PROVIDENCE -- Esteban Carpio was convicted this afternoon of murdering a veteran Providence police detective with his own gun at police headquarters last year in a bold crime that shook the city's Police Department to its core.
The 12-person jury deliberated about nine hours over two days before announcing its highly-anticipated verdict in a case that asked jurors to decide whether Carpio was a calculating criminal or a psychotic who did not know what he was doing.
Carpio, 27, now faces life in prison for the fatal shooting of Detective Sgt. James L. Allen, a 50-year-old father of two girls who held down a second job to help support his family.
Prosecutor Paul F. Daley said the verdict allows the state to seek a sentence of life without the possibility of parole because Carpio killed Allen while he was on duty. No date was set today for sentencing.
In addition to the first-degree murder charge, the former Boston barber was convicted of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, death resulting; and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with serious bodily injury resulting.
After the verdict was read, a couple of hushed "thank God's" could be heard from the standing-room-only crowd in the Superior Court courtroom. Seven uniformed officers had been standing behind Carpio, separated from the gallery, as the verdict was read.
Carpio turned to his mother as he was being led out of court and mouthed the words, "I love you, Mom.''
A few minutes later, a woman walking with Carpio's mother in a court hallway screamed: "They didn't help a sick kid. That's why we had this tragedy.''
Defense attorney Robert L. Sheketoff said an appeal was automatic in the case. He declined to comment further.
After the verdict, Providence Police Chief Dean M. Esserman said, “Today closes a chapter. The grieving doesn't end.''
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline said in a statement, "While this verdict cannot erase the pain of the loss of Detective Sergeant James Allen to his family, the Police Department, and the City, it offers an important measure of justice and closure."
Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, who was out of state today, called the verdict "a tribute to Detective Sergeant James L.Allen's selflessness and impeccable legacy of public service."
"With the jury's decision, Esteban Carpio can no longer make excuses or shift blame or evade responsibility, because he is a convicted murderer," Lynch said.
The case caught national attention and prompted allegations of police abuse when Carpio showed up in court hours after his arrest heavily bruised and wearing a plastic mask. An investigation cleared the police of any misconduct.
Police officers from around the country attended Allen's funeral, and Rhode Islanders lined the streets to pay respects for one of the department's longest serving members.
The elements of the crimes were virtually uncontested during the 13 days of trial, and both the defense and prosecution focused on the psychological evidence essential to Carpio's defense.
Allen had been questioning Carpio at police headquarters on April 16, 2005, about the stabbing of Madeline Gatta, then 83, earlier that day outside Gatta's house in the North End of Providence.
After another detective left the room when Carpio asked for water, Carpio locked the door, wrestled Allen's gun from him and shot the detective before jumping out a third-story window and escaping, according to the prosecution.
Prosecutor Paul F. Daly Jr., in closing arguments Monday, said Carpio nearly pulled off the "crime of the century" and said his actions followed a series of rational decisions and showed evidence of premeditation and cunning.
"James Bond would have been envious" of that kind of resourcefulness, Daly declared.
Defense attorney Sheketoff claimed that Carpio's actions that night proved he was crazy since the police had told Carpio several times that he wasn't under arrest and was free to leave.
"Esteban Carpio could have walked out of that police station," Sheketoff said.
After shooting out a window in an adjacent office, climbing through it and falling three stories, Carpio got away and tried to get a taxi to take him out of town, according to the police. He was spotted downtown and, after what was described as a furious struggle with police officers and an FBI agent, was subdued and captured.
Carpio family members shrieked when he appeared in court for his arraignment and alleged police brutality. Family members and Carpio's girlfriend also claimed that Carpio suffered from mental illness.
During the trial, Carpio's mother, Yvonne, testified that she'd heard her son say the "devil was trying to get him, that he was cursed."
Carpio's girlfriend, Samein Phin, testified about Carpio "talking nonsense, saying the same thing over and over, saying someone did voodoo on him and he was scared."
Experts estimate that the insanity defense is used in fewer than 1 percent of the criminal cases filed each year in the United States and that even though 90 percent of the defendants who raise the defense have a documented history of mental illness, only one-fourth of those defendants are found "not guilty by reason of insanity."
After today's verdict, Krause remanded Carpio back to the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, and gave defense lawyers until July 6 to file a motion for a new trial.
-- With reports from projo.com staff writers Steve Peoples and Jack Perry and Journal staff writer Greg Smith
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