Verdict: Guilty of first degree murder

Sentence could total 30 years

After one day of deliberation, the jury for the Frank Lazcano trial Friday returned a verdict of guilty to the charge of first degree murder of Marcus Schur of Rosalia. Superior Court Judge David Frazier read the jury’s verdict at about 4:30 p.m. in superior court.

The trial came to an end in a hushed courtroom with some family members and friends quietly sobbing. Lazcano, for several minutes, gazed at his infant son while he sat expressionless in the defendant’s chair.

Testimony for trial ended the previous day after Frank Lazcano took the witness stand in his own defense. He gave a graphic description of how he ran out the back of a Malden residence at 5 p.m. Dec. 27, 2011, saw bullets hit the ground in front of him, saw his brother with an AK-47 rifle, then found Schur writhing in bushes alongside the alley as he died.

Judge Frazier set Friday, March 8, to schedule a sentencing hearing. The judge remanded Lazcano to the custody of the jail and ordered him held without bail. Lazcano had been held in jail since his arrest under a $500,000 bail requirement.

Sentencing range on a first-degree murder conviction in this state is 20 to 25 years. The jury also found Lazcano guilty of using a gun in the crime and that carries a five-year mandatory sentence.

The jury also returned a guilty verdict on a charge of unlawful disposal of a body.

The Frank Lazcano jury Friday morning received verdict forms for six different charges with first degree murder, unlawful disposal of human remains and first degree kidnapping as the primary charges. The verdict packet also included forms for findings of alternate charges of second degree murder, first degree manslaughter and second degree manslaughter.

The first degree murder charge requires a finding of pre-meditation or of felony murder which requires the state to prove Schur’s death took place while Frank Lazcano was committing a felony, which, in this case, was entering the residence in Malden and assaulting two people who had been guests there for a dinner. Under this argument, Frank Lazcano could be found guilty of a murder which was actually committed by an accomplice, his brother Daniel.

On question forms returned by the jury, they said they reached a unanimous decision on a felony murder conviction.

They found Lazcano not guilty of the charge of first degree kidnapping. Lazcano and defense attorney Steve Martonick contended during the trial that Schur was deceased when Frank and Daniel Lazcano placed Schur’s body in the trunk of a white Ford Escort and later dropped it into the creek at Hole-in-the-Ground the night of Dec. 27, 2011.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy told the Gazette Monday he is now researching whether Frank Lazcano can be required to testify in a second trial for his brother, Daniel, 21.

The jury for Daniel Lazcano’s trial reported Feb. 21 they were unable to reach a verdict on the murder and kidnapping charges. Daniel Lazcano was remanded back to the jail and still faces the two charges. His bail sum remains at $500,000.

The jury did convict him of unlawful disposal of a body, a charge he admitted to during his trial. Tracy said he could ask the court Friday to delay sentencing on the misdemeanor conviction which involves a 90-day sentence.

Daniel Lazcano, during his trial, testified he was not present in the alley that night when Schur was fatally shot.

After taking the witness stand last Thursday, Frank Lazcano, now 25, told the jury he didn’t know his brother had the AK-47 when they went to the house in Malden.

Under questioning by Martonick, Frank Lazcano recounted how he and his brother left a gathering at the Travis Carlon residence near Pine City and went in the Ford Escort to the Nick Backman house on Bluebird Street in Malden.

Frank said when they arrived at the residence, he told his brother to “hang tight” while he went to the front of the house. He testified he believed David Cramer, who answered the door at the house, attempted to pull a knife and “took a stance.” He said he hit Cramer and pushed Amber Jones-Schur out of his way, and he chased Marcus Schur out the back door into the alley behind the house.

Lazcano said he heard shots and two bullets hit the ground as he went into the alley. He said he looked to the right and saw his brother holding the AK-47. He ran past his brother to find Schur.

Frank Lazcano said his first thought as he ran down the alley was that Schur had not been hit by the rifle bullets. He said he then located Schur in some shrubbery and knew he had been shot.

“He was in pretty bad condition, writhing in pain and gasping for air. Marcus was looking at me in the face, looking into my eyes,” Lazcano said.

“I see this in my mind often,” he added. “Marcus died in front of me,” Frank Lazcano said later.

He told how he and his brother had difficulty picking up Schur’s body and putting it into the trunk of the Ford Escort.

He recalled Daniel, who seemed to be “incapacitated” after the shooting, and he, Frank, started to drive the car away from the scene. He said Daniel then said “gun” as they began to leave, and they stopped, picked up the AK-47 and put it in the back seat of the car.

Frank Lazcano said when he drove away from the scene he really “didn’t know where to go or what to do.”

He also said as he drove toward Pine City, he began to think Schur could still be alive in the trunk. He said he stopped the car and went to the trunk to check on Schur. He said he could not feel a pulse when he felt Schur’s neck.

He said he also talked to Schur about “hanging out, about the old days.”

Frank Lazcano then testified they met up with Travis Carlon at Pine City and drove south to Hole-in-the-Ground Road to talk over what to do. He confirmed earlier testimony that the rifle was left with Carlon, and the brothers drove on to Hole-in-the-Ground to drop Schur’s body in the creek.

Frank testified they parked the Escort behind some hay bales and proceeded to carry Schur’s body down to the creek. He said at first they had planned to carry the body as far as Bonnie Lake, but decided to leave it in the creek.

Frank said they tied Schur’s hands and feet after the limbs kept bobbing to the surface after they placed him in the water.

“I’m surprised they didn’t find it sooner. I thought we had a couple of months,” he added.

CLARIFICATION: After reading last week’s account of the start of the Frank Lazcano trial, Susan Consiglio of Rosalia called the Gazette to report the account of her testimony was incorrect. Consiglio, who was one of the first witnesses in both of the Lazcano trials, is the mother of Ben Evensen. She gave an account of how she and the Lazcano brothers discovered Evensen’s unoccupied house in Rosalia had been burglarized. Daniel Lazcano was allowed to occupy a room, and his reaction to the burglary was portrayed by the state as the motive for tracking down Schur.

Consiglio was also questioned about making a call to Daniel Lazcano on the day Schur was shot and killed in Malden. Prosecutor Denis Tracy during the trial in his final argument noted the call to Daniel was part of a chain of events which led to the arrival of the Lazcano brothers at the Nick Backman residence in Malden before 5 p.m. Dec. 27, 2011.

Consiglio said when she called Daniel Lazcano earlier that day, she told him where she believed Schur and his brother were residing in Rosalia. She said she made the call to continue efforts on the part of the Lazcanos to recover their property. She said at the time she was unaware of the plans for the dinner in Malden.