Man convicted in family feud double slaying
A 37-year-old Las Vegas man was convicted this week of two counts of first-degree murder in what prosecutors described as a family feud over a woman.
Richard Granados also was found guilty Monday of one count of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of attempted murder in the Aug. 10, 2009 shooting that left two men dead and another injured. His brother Jose Granados-Dominguez Sr. pleaded guilty last week to two counts of voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon.
Juan Carlos Benitez, 20, and Paul Rodelo, 22, were killed in the hail of 31 bullets, while Cesar Sosa, 20, suffered 10 gunshot wounds and survived.
Earlier that morning, the three had been driving up and down Edna Avenue in the western Las Vegas Valley, where the brothers lived, throwing beer bottles at their homes.
About a year before the shooting, a 19-year-old woman named Paula Arenas Suarez had broken up with Benitez and started dating Richard Granados, then 30.
Richard Granados's lawyer, Kirk Kennedy, argued at trial that the shooting was self-defense. Granados feared for his life, as Benitez turned his truck around and began "barreling down" toward the brothers, Kennedy said.
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker
