A San Francisco jury found a 72-year-old man guilty of murder and rape Tuesday for a crime he committed more than a decade ago.
Henry Hall was found to have raped and killed 37-year-old Amy Mustain in September 2010.
“What was the downward spiral of two lives ends up with death of one and life in prison for the other,” said Paul DeMeester, Hall’s attorney.
He had argued in court that the cause of death was in question, but the jury ultimately did not agree.
Mustain was found dead in a room in the Krishna Hotel, a single-room-occupancy hotel in the Mission, on Sept. 14, 2010. The cause of death was probable suffocation with blunt force trauma and abuse present, DeMeester said.
Before the discovery of Mustain, Hall had called police, according to newspaper reports, and told them about Mustain’s death. He then called again saying he would turn himself in.
The pair had known each other for about six years, said Hall’s attorney. Sometimes Mustain and her husband would stay in Hall’s room when they had nowhere else to go, DeMeester said.
He didn’t turn himself in, and police arrested him two days later.
At the time of his arrest, then-District Attorney Kamala Harris said that “such brutal and violent criminal conduct has no place in San Francisco.”
Hall has been jailed in San Francisco ever since.
The jury has yet to give a verdict in the case regarding its aggravating circumstances, but are expected to hear arguments Wednesday.
Hall’s sentencing is set for Oct. 10. Hall’s attorney said his client faces life without parole.
San Francisco District Attorney spokesperson Randy Quezada declined to comment on his office’s conviction.