After less than a day of deliberations, a jury found Edward Arviso guilty of first-degree murder Monday for the brutal stabbing of a man during a 2007 convenience store robbery.
The victim, Fahd Mohammed Moshin Hussein, was the manager of the Santa Nella Market on Highway 33. He was an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Bosnia.
Arviso shook his head and exhaled heavily after Judge Brian McCabe read the jury's verdict. Meanwhile, more than 20 of Hussein's friends and family members breathed a sigh of relief. One family member pumped his fist after the jury's verdict was released. Another whispered, "Yes!"
Arviso wasn't only found guilty of first degree-murder and robbery, but also three special circumstances, including torture. Arviso committed the robbery with an accomplice, David Fagundes, who testified against the defendant as a condition of a plea agreement.
Hussein's second cousin, Kassim Shaibi, said he was glad Arviso was convicted but said it wasn't enough. Shaibi and his family wanted Arviso to receive the death penalty.
"It seems like even jail is too simple," Shaibi said. "Like they say -- an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Shaibi understands the dangers of working in convenience stores. He's the second-generation owner of a shop in the East Bay city of Pittsburg. He was shot seven times with .40-caliber bullets during a robbery at his store seven months ago. With scars on his torso, arms and legs, Shaibi knows he's lucky to be alive.
Arviso and his accomplice didn't have to kill Hussein -- they could have robbed him and let him go, Shaibi said.
The pair took $600 to $700 from the store, in addition to the victim's wallet, store keys and the digital video recorder from the store's surveillance system. Blood found on Arviso's shirt was matched to the victim.
Fagundes pleaded no contest in 2008 to manslaughter, robbery, burglary and false imprisonment charges in connection with Hussein's death. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison and agreed to testify against Arviso as a condition of his plea agreement.
Khaled Hussein, the victim's older brother, said though nothing will bring back his brother, he felt some vindication with the jury's verdict. Arviso probably will spend the rest of his life in prison. "They did a great job. These are great citizens that made this decision," Khaled Hussein said.
Arviso has a prior conviction for attempted first-degree burglary in 1984, which could extend his sentence.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Harold Nutt, prosecutor in the case, said Arviso, 49, and Fagundes, 40, lured Hussein to a bait tank in the store during the early morning hours of Jan. 25, 2007.
Arviso then hit Hussein in the back of the head with a wrench, knocking him to the ground, Nutt said.
Bleeding profusely, Hussein was dragged to a storage room where he was bound with a large zip-lock tie, Nutt said.
Arviso then stabbed Hussein in the head nine times with a fillet knife until the handle broke off, an act that took considerable strength, Nutt said.
"The knife blade had to go through bone," Nutt said during closing arguments Friday. "How much hatred, malice, ill will did it require for this defendant to drive the knife blade through Fahd Hussein's skull?"
Nutt said Arviso didn't just want to kill Hussein, but wanted to make him suffer.
Arviso is scheduled to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. March 29 in Courtroom 5 of the Merced County Superior Court.
Managing Editor Victor Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.
Reporter Mike North can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or mnorth@mercedsun-star.com.
