Jury weighs death penalty for 39-year-old in double slaying

The penalty phase for a 39-year-old Las Vegas man convicted of murder earlier this week for the slaying of two prostitutes is expected to begin today.

It took a jury only a couple of hours Tuesday to convict Jason McCarty of 15 felonies and one gross misdemeanor, including two counts of murder with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and robbery, after a nearly monthlong trial.

The same jury will next decide whether McCarty should be sentenced to death for the May 2006 beating deaths of Victoria Magee, 26, and Charlotte Combado, 34, who were found slain in the desert in Henderson.

Authorities said Domonic "D-Roc" Malone was the victims' pimp and had threatened to bury them in the desert if they didn't make him money when he dropped them off at the Hard Rock.

McCarty helped Malone with the slayings, authorities said.

Malone's trial was delayed because of the length of McCarty's trial. Malone's trial is scheduled for June 6.

A third co-defendant, Donald Herb, pleaded guilty in August 2006 to accessory to murder and agreed to testify against McCarty and Malone.