Teen convicted in murder of store manager
A Clark County District Court jury convicted Thayer Burton of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the 2007 slaying of Ashley Furniture Homestore manager Robert Bills.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours before returning a guilty verdict today afternoon. Burton, 18, killed Bills, 53, during a robbery attempt the day after Thanksgiving, one of the store's biggest shopping days, authorities said. Bills was leaving the store on Rainbow Boulevard near Cheyenne Avenue to make the nightly money deposit at a local bank. He had about $22,000 in cash and checks in his pocket before he was slain.
The penalty phase of Burton's trial begins Thursday.
