Adam Anhang Murder Trial Verdict: Restaurant Employee Found Guilty

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: A 24-year-old restaurant worker was convicted Wednesday in the slaying of a Canadian executive who was stabbed and beaten to death two years ago in a popular tourist district of the Puerto Rican capital.

A jury deliberated less than five hours before convicting Jonathan Roman Rivera of first-degree murder in the death of Adam Anhang despite a lack of forensic evidence and the last-minute appearance of a defense witness who said another man committed the crime.

Roman, who was also convicted of a weapons charge, faces more than 100 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 15. During the trial, he had been free on bail but was taken into custody after the jury's verdict was announced.

"Our family is very relieved that we have this guy off the street now," the victim's father, Abe Anhang, said outside the courtroom.

The father said authorities believe others were involved in the slaying and will continue to pursue suspects.

The victim, a Winnipeg native who moved to Puerto Rico a year before the attack, was a wealthy real estate investor who developed beach-front condominiums and hotels in the U.S. island territory. He also was CEO of an online gambling software company based in Costa Rica.

Anhang and his wife were walking along the cobblestone streets of historic Old San Juan when he was attacked. The assailant did not take his wallet or other valuables.

Anhang and Aurea Vazquez Rijos, had just left a restaurant he bought for her where they had discussed the terms of their pending divorce when the attack occurred.

The wife, who had no major injuries in the attack, refused to cooperate with investigators and fled the island. She is believed to be in Europe.

Roman's attorney, Carmelo Davila, told the jury that Vazquez should be facing justice rather than his client.

"We have a trial pretty much based on the motives of this woman," Davila said. "I await the day this woman is brought to justice."

Vazquez has filed a civil suit against her late husband's family, seeking a portion of his estate. Anhang's father said he plans to vigorously contest her claim.

Prosecutors presented no physical evidence linking Roman, an employee of a sandwich shop in Old San Juan, to the crime but an eyewitness, a local lawyer who said he was only about 10 feet (3 meters) away from the attack, identified him.

The defense, however, presented a surprise witness who said she saw the attack from a second-floor balcony and recognized the killer as a man she knew from the neighborhood.