Once jury selection was completed on Tuesday and both the prosecution and defense made opening statements Wednesday morning, the State of Iowa, represented by Marshall County Attorney Jordan Gaffney and Assistant Iowa Attorney General Susan Krisko called a total of 16 individuals to the stand, including material witnesses, law enforcement officers, a medical examiner and those who were there to provide expert testimony. Trujillo’s defense team, comprised of attorneys Chad Frese and Taylor Reichardt, did not call any witnesses of their own or introduce any new evidence after the State rested before lunch on Thursday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

As she began her closing argument Friday morning, Krisko contended that the prosecution had compiled a strong case against the defendant through a combination of surveillance footage at the store, witness testimony, DNA evidence on a vape cartridge left in a jacket Trujillo left outside of Casey’s as the result of a scuffle with an employee after the attempted robbery, a casing in that same jacket corresponding to the gun that was used, tips sent to the Marshalltown Police Department and records of a Snapchat conversation between the defendant and two of his friends between the time of the shooting and when he was arrested later that same day, during which they discussed destroying evidence.

“During jury selection, the defense talked about this as a puzzle, and by now, that puzzle has been completed,” Krisko said.

She also described West as “a real human being” and noted he was doing nothing other than working the register at Casey’s earning an “honest living” when Trujillo entered the store and shot him in the chest, ultimately causing his death.

Rocky Trujillo enters the courtroom on Friday morning trailed by one of his defense attorneys, Taylor Reichardt.

Although a first degree murder charge typically requires premeditation, Krisko explained that any murder committed during the commission of a felony — in this case, robbery — automatically rises to that level. While she conceded that the crime may not add up in the traditional sense as Trujillo ultimately took nothing from the store, she urged the jury not to compromise as a result of that fact.

“We don’t reward people with a lesser crime just because they aren’t good at what they do,” Krisko said.

She then asked the jury to convict Trujillo on all five counts — murder, first degree robbery of Michael West, first degree robbery of a customer at the store whose cell phone he took and smashed, going armed with intent and assault while participating in a felony for the subsequent altercation that occurred in the parking lot.

Frese gave the closing argument for the defense, at first invoking the Good Friday holiday and a condemned man at the Coliseum before asking the jurors if the prosecution had truly created an ironclad case against his client.

“Have they built a deck, or are they just walking around with a drill?” Frese asked.

He agreed with Krisko that West did not deserve to die that night, and in a surprising twist, Frese admitted Trujillo was the man who shot him, which led to Gaffney and Krisko requesting a brief breakaway with Judge John Haney.

Despite an objection from Krisko, which was ultimately overruled, Frese proceeded and took the prosecution to task for “personal attacks” against the defendant, including calling him an “idiot” and pronouncing his last name wrong throughout the trial.

He then accused the State of attempting to take shortcuts to secure a conviction by declaring that they didn’t have to prove Trujillo’s intent, and Frese asked why the law enforcement agencies investigating the case failed to interview the defendant’s friends or family to find out what was going through his mind.

The prosecution, Frese argued, tried to “reverse engineer” a robbery after the incident despite the fact that nothing was taken from the store, and he contended that smashing the customer’s phone did not constitute a robbery, which drew another objection that was subsequently overruled.

“It makes no sense,” he said. “He didn’t leave there with as much as a candy bar… People who commit robberies take things.”

Trujillo is guilty of involuntary manslaughter and possibly even second degree murder, Frese argued, but he did not believe the State had met the burden of proving the first degree murder or robbery charges.

“They don’t have a monopoly on the truth. They have to prove it, but just because it comes from that table doesn’t mean it’s so,” he said.

During her rebuttal, Krisko accused the defense of distracting from the real issues at play and argued that a lack of motive did not equate to a lack of unlawful intent on Trujillo’s part.

“We can’t know what was in his mind. We have to judge his actions,” she said.

The jury began its deliberations at around 11:30 a.m. and reached a verdict just after 3 p.m. At around 3:30 p.m., Judge Haney read it in the courtroom, announcing that Trujillo had been found guilty of all five charges.

A chaotic scene then unfolded as a member of West’s family fainted and required medical attention, and both Trujillo and his mother had to be restrained by Marshall County law enforcement after expressing outrage about being photographed.

Once the premises had cleared, Frese told the T-R he respected the verdict and thanked the jury for its hard work throughout the trial. Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper said he was satisfied with the outcome and praised the agencies involved in the investigation.

“This verdict brings a small measure of justice for the family of Michael West and the tragic loss they have endured. I am thankful for the exceptional police work put in on this case by MPD and Iowa DCI. Their daily efforts matter and do make a difference. Today’s verdict is just another example of this,” Tupper said.

Trujillo will be held without bond at the Marshall County Jail until his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for June 19 at 10 a.m. at the Marshall County Courthouse.