Pensacola, Florida (CNN) -- A jury has recommended that a Florida man be sentenced to death, a day after he was convicted of first-degree murder for leading a crew of masked men dressed as ninjas to ambush a Florida home.
Ten members of the 12-person Escambia County jury voted to recommend the death penalty for Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., with two dissenting.
On Thursday night, the same jury found Gonzalez guilty on two counts of murder for the execution-style murder of Byrd and Melanie Billings. He was also found guilty of armed home-invasion robbery.
The penalty phase began Friday morning, with the jury delivering the sentence -- after about an hour and ten minutes of deliberation -- just before 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET).
A formal sentencing hearing for Gonzalez is scheduled for December 9. Until then, he will remain behind bars.
During the trial, the 35-year-old Gonzalez frequently conversed with his attorneys, shook his head and smirked. He told Judge Nickolas Geeker that he didn't need to call any witnesses or testify on his own behalf because "the evidence speaks for itself".
And after the jury came out to ask a question during its four hours of deliberations, he said, "I've already been tried and convicted by the media".
CNN
