VANCOUVER, Wash. — A Clark County jury found Julio Segura guilty of murder on Friday for his role in the death of Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota, along with several lesser criminal charges stemming from the Jan. 29, 2022 incident in which a sheriff's deputy mistakenly shot and killed Sahota. The verdict caps off a three-week trial.
Segura was accused of robbing a Vancouver convenience store and leading police on a car chase, which ended when he crashed and ran toward a nearby house that coincidentally turned out to be Sahota's Battle Ground home. Sahota was off-duty at the time and attempted to arrest Segura in the driveway, but Segura stabbed him and ran into the house. Sahota ran after him, and an arriving deputy mistook the officer for the suspect and opened fire.
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The jury was originally set to hear closing arguments Thursday morning, but the trial took a surprising turn when the judge granted a motion from Segura's defense attorneys to dismiss two of the three first-degree murder charges that had been leveled against him.
The two charges were for murder in the course of committing other crimes — specifically burglary and attempted kidnapping, because Sahota's wife was inside the house when Segura broke in — but the defense argued that there was no causal link between those crimes and Sahota's death, because the deputy who shot Sahota didn't know Segura was inside the house.
Segura was still charged with one other count of first-degree murder that wasn't tied to any of the other crimes, along with one count of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder, for stabbing Sahota multiple times during the confrontation in the driveway. The stab wounds would most likely have been fatal on their own if Sahota hadn't been shot and killed moments later, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner.
Segura was also charged with burglary and attempted kidnapping as crimes in and of themselves, along with charges of robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding police, stemming from his actions before he arrived at Sahota's house.
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The jury began deliberating early Friday after hearing closing arguments late Thursday. Deliberations continued through the morning and early afternoon, and at one point the jury requested to see police thermal and drone video from the incident and the jurors briefly brought back into the courtroom to review the footage.
Returning to the courtroom again just after 3:30 p.m., the jury announced that it had found Segura guilty on the counts of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude a police vehicle. The jury found Segura not guilty on the charges of attempted murder, attempted kidnapping and burglary.
Answering supplemental questions stemming from the guilty verdicts, the jury said it concluded that Segura did not know that Sahota was a law enforcement officer when he committed the murder. Segura testified during the trial that Sahota had said "police," but Segura didn't believe him to be an officer and fought back because he thought Sahota intended to kill him.
A sentencing hearing has been set for June 27.
The Vancouver Police Department released a statement Friday evening in response to the verdict, thanking the jury and the prosecutors on the case.
“On behalf of the Vancouver Police Department I want to say that today the justice process was exercised, as the jury found the defendant guilty of the January 29, 2022, death of Vancouver Police Officer Donald Sahota,” said Vancouver Police Chief Jeff Mori. “It has been a long, emotional wait for the family and friends of Donald Sahota and while we are grateful for this verdict, the pain and tragedy of Don’s death remains. Don was a beloved husband, father, son, brother, and friend who will always be missed and never forgotten.”
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.