A Wyandotte County jury returned verdicts today in the murder trial of Darrell Lee Broxton.
Broxton, 51, was accused by the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office of first-degree murder, burglary, and two counts of theft. The jury found Broxton guilty of intentional second-degree murder and the remaining counts as charged.
Broxton was found guilty after 5 p.m. today. The jury began its deliberations late Monday afternoon. The trial lasted seven days.
Broxton is a Kansas City, Mo., resident.
Broxton was convicted for the December 2012 murder of Peter Belmont. Belmont was found bludgeoned to death in his bed on Dec. 16, 2012, near 115th and Leavenworth Road. An autopsy estimated that Belmont had been dead several days before he was found.
The jury was presented with evidence where Broxton was investigated for a similar 1996 homicide in Ocala, Fla.
Peter Belmont was a 69-year-old Kansas City, Kan., resident. He was a retired art teacher for the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools. Belmont was also nationally known for breeding, raising and showing Afghan hound dogs.
The trial was conducted before Judge J. Dexter Burdette. The state was represented by Sheryl Lidtke, chief deputy district attorney. The case was investigated by the Kansas City, Kan., police department with assistance from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas City, Mo., police department.
A sentencing date has not been set.