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December 1, 2009

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Johnson found guilty of killing four

Greg Tuttle

Friday, June 9, 2000 | 5:45 a.m.

A 21-year-old Las Vegas man was found guilty late Friday of the execution slaying of four people during a botched home-invasion robbery.

A Clark County District Court jury found Donte Johnson guilty of four counts of first-degree murder for the Aug. 14, 1998, killing inside a Las Vegas home. Prosecutors will now seek the death penalty for Johnson at a hearing scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The jury also convicted Johnson of four counts of robbery, four counts of kidnapping and one count each of burglary and conspiracy.

Matt Mowen, 19, Tracey Gorringe, 21, Jeffrey Biddle, 19, and Peter Talamantez, 17, were bound at the wrists and hands with duct tape and each shot once in the back of the head. The four were killed after three armed men burst in to a home on Terra Linda Avenue looking for cash and drugs.

The robbers made off with $240, a VCR, Sony play station and a pager.

The two co-defendants were sentenced to life without parole at separate trials last year.

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