Jurors found two San Luis Obispo residents guilty Monday of first-degree murder for the 2007 death of a Cal Poly alumnus, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.
Chad Westbrook, 37, and Patrick Wollett, 19, were convicted of killing 36-year-old Joshua Houlgate, a 1995 Cal Poly graduate and son of retired Cal Poly philosophy professor Laurence Houlgate.
According to court records, the two men were charged under California Penal Code 187 for pre-meditated murder.
The murder took place at Wollett’s home, the Oceanaire Mobile Home Park on Orcutt Road, after the victim had allegedly been caught having sex with the fiancé of Wollett’s brother, Sarah Lonsinger-Rey, 24.
According to earlier testimony from Hope Tanore Westbrook’s sister, Wollett, Westbrook and Houlgate were under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the shooting. Tanore said that she and the two men convicted had been awake on a five-day methamphetamine binge and had been drinking earlier in the evening.
The autopsy in January 2008 revealed Houlgate’s death was caused by a single shot to the chest from a 12-gauge shotgun.
At the preliminary hearing in February 2008, the Mustang Daily reported that Houlgate’s parents wiped tears from their eyes during the testimony of Lonsinger-Rey.
Jurors found Westbrook and Wollett — who were also tried for the assault of Lonsinger-Rey with a baseball bat at the time of the murder — guilty of felony assault with a deadly weapon, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. Westbrook was also found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5 and face up to the maximum penalty of life in prison. Westbrook and Wollet remain at the San Luis Obispo county jail without bail, according to court records.
— Daniel Triassi, Tim Miller, and Lauren Rabaino contributed to this report.