Cabbie convicted After about 1 - 1/2 hours of deliberation, a Circuit Court jury convicted Keith Murauskas of first-degree attempted murder and kidnapping for the gruesome slaying of taxicab owner Paul Salazar and attempting to kill Salazar's wife.
in beating death
of taxicab owner
Keith Murauskas faces life in
By Debra Barayuga
prison for Paul Salazar's murder
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comMurauskas, 45, faces a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole when sentenced April 10.
Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter said the sentence is appropriate given Murauskas had been sentenced to three life terms with the possibility of parole in 1983 for multiple bank robberies in which guns were fired. Murauskas was later released, only to commit "one of the most heinous crimes we've seen in a long time," Van Marter said.
Murauskas served 14 years in federal and state prisons for the bank robberies and was on parole when he and an acquaintance, Edward Wallace Martin, plotted and carried out a plan in April 1999 to kill Salazar, who leased them taxis to drive.
Salazar's wife was also targeted but she did not come home when they expected her to and was spared.
Martin, who turned state's witness, testified he watched as Murauskas struck Salazar repeatedly in the back of the head with a sledgehammer before stabbing him numerous times in the neck and back.
Martin also admitted to striking Salazar with the sledgehammer because he feared for his and his family's safety.
Murauskas testified he had nothing to do with Salazar's death or the plan to kill Salazar's wife and that Martin was blaming him to save his own neck.
He showed no reaction when the verdict was read.
Martin will be sentenced next month for second-degree murder and kidnapping. Under a plea agreement in which he agreed to testify against Murauskas, the state dropped a first-degree attempted murder charge stemming from the plot to kill two people.