CALIFORNIA — A former defensive lineman was found guilty today of a 1999 double homicide and a 2001 murder, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
A jury deliberated for about eight days before finding Anthony Wayne Smith, 48, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and found true special circumstance allegations of torture, kidnapping, and multiple murders.
Smith, who played for the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders, will face three life terms in state prison without the possibility of parole at a sentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 21 in Department A17 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Antelope Valley Branch.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a fourth murder charge for the 2008 death of Maurilio Ponce. A mistrial was declared and a decision on whether to retry that charge will be made at a later date.
Deputy District Attorneys Jonathan Chung and Tom Trainor of the Hardcore Gang Division prosecuted case MA056689.
On Nov. 10, 1999, brothers Ricky and Kevin Nettles were kidnapped from their car wash business in Los Angeles by Smith posing as a police officer, prosecutors said. The two victims were tortured and killed and found the next day, according to court testimony.
On June 24, 2001, Dennis Henderson was kidnapped in Mar Vista by Smith and then beaten and stabbed to death, according to evidence presented at the four-week long trial.
The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
