Raiders first-round pick convicted on three counts of murder
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In the case of Ponce, there was a hung jury in April 2012 after it deadlocked 8-4 in favor of a guilty verdict. Ponce was found on a California highway after being beaten and shot.
Henderson was also abducted, along with a man named Terry Ware, by several armed men. Ware was released, but Henderson’s body was found in the back of a rental car. Officials at the time said he was beaten, stabbed and allegedly tortured and robbed.
Deliberations for the case began Oct. 21. Smith has remained in custody without bail since his arrest in 2011. The Nettles brothers case along with the Henderson case were considered cold cases but were linked to Smith after further review and witness interviews.
Once they were no longer cold cases, they were filed in conjunction with the Ponce case. As previously mentioned, the Ponce case was originally a mistrial, but a retrial was scheduled, which led to Smith’s convictions Thursday.
Smith was the No. 11 overall pick out of Arizona in the 1990 NFL Draft. He had 57.5 sacks and 190 tackles in his career before he retired in 1998.
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