A Beaver County jury not only discounted attempts by Walter Stawarz IV to blame two other people for the beating death of Jeremy Delon, it returned a guilty verdict yesterday for the most severe offense possible, first-degree murder.

		Listen in Listen to comments about the first-degree murder conviction of Walter Stawarz IV: The victim's mother, Michele Delon, talks about the verdict. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Popovich discusses what she thinks convinced the jury. Defense attorney Ronald Rojas says he was surprised by the guilty verdict.

Jeremy's mother, Michele Delon, and one of his cousins broke down in sobs within the heavily guarded courtroom of Common Pleas Judge George E. James after the verdict was read following roughly six hours of deliberations over two days.

"There was never a doubt that he was guilty and finally, finally, the monster that killed my son is behind bars for life," an emotional Ms. Delon said shortly after the verdict. "He'll never hurt another family. He'll never tear another family up like he has this one."

Mr. Stawarz, 18, of Aliquippa, remained impassive as the verdict was delivered by the jury foreman. While one of his sisters struggled to keep her composure, his mother and staunchest defender, Judith Stawarz, opted to remain outside the courtroom. The family quickly left without comment.

Defense attorney Ronald Rojas, who handled the case with Dirk Goodwald, said he would appeal the verdict, which carries an automatic life sentence, but did not discuss the possible grounds. He said he was surprised by the finding of first-degree murder and disagreed with it.

Police said Mr. Stawarz beat Jeremy, 15, on July 21, 2005, in a secluded area along the Ohio River in Aliquippa during a drug deal. Two of Jeremy's friends dropped him off around 8 p.m. that night to buy $30 worth of marijuana from Mr. Stawarz.

Hours later, Jeremy's friends found him in a pool of blood at the riverbank. He was unconscious with head wounds, slash marks on his throat and a stab wound of the chest. He died nine days later in the hospital.

Following the trial, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Popovich, the lead prosecutor, said she believed the presence of slash marks convinced the jury that the killing was intentional and merited a first-degree conviction.

Through four days of testimony and a powerful closing argument, Ms. Popovich successfully countered claims by the defense that Mr. Stawarz merely witnessed two other people beating Jeremy with a pipe. Police said both men fingered by Mr. Stawarz had alibis.

"Our investigation only pointed toward one person, and that was Mr. Stawarz," Hopewell Detective Greg Durkos said.

Investigators found Jeremy's blood on Mr. Stawarz's pants, which were hidden under floorboards in his bedroom. They also had a witness who testified that Mr. Stawarz asked him to concoct an alibi because he had beaten up someone to whom he sold marijuana by the river.

Investigators never found a murder weapon or turned up a witness to the crime. They inferred that robbery was the motive, since Jeremy was missing the $30 and a backpack he carried.

Mr. Rojas was hoping he could sow seeds of doubt in the jury's minds about his client's involvement by arguing that Mr. Stawarz, at 5-feet-4, was considerably smaller than Jeremy and could not have carried out such a vicious attack. He also asked jurors to question why Mr. Stawarz would kill Jeremy when the victim's friends would be able to identify him as the last person with Jeremy.

Ms. Popovich, who was prosecuting her first homicide jury trial, said she was "overjoyed" with the result. Her boss, District Attorney Anthony Berosh, sat through portions of the trial. Yesterday he said he had never seen a more manipulative defendant than Mr. Stawarz.

By peddling theories that other people killed Jeremy and hid evidence, Mr. Stawarz led investigators on what amounted to wild goose chases, with detectives literally digging in the ground for clues a few weeks ago.

"In 30 years I have never seen a more convoluted, misguided, misleading defendant as this guy," Mr. Berosh said.

Ms. Delon, 37, of Hopewell, attended each day of trial wearing a heart-shaped pendant around her neck with her son's confirmation picture taken four months before his death. She called Jeremy her "guardian angel" and said he helped her get through the trial.

"I want him to look down on me right now and tell me how proud he is of me," Ms. Delon said. "This is the day I've been waiting for for almost two years, and now my son can rest in peace."