LANDERS, Bikers convicted of murder

OFF THE WIRE
LANDERS — Two motorcycle gang members were convicted Dec. 7 of torturing and murdering a man whose body they dumped in the desert.
After deliberating for five days, a jury found Keith Silva, 47, and David Anthony Beltran, 35, guilty of the April 5, 2003, homicide of Dennis Daoussis, 34.
Daoussis was beaten and bound at a Fontana home, then taken to Ming Road in Landers, where he was shot in the head.
Silva and Beltran, two Vagos motorcycle gang members, were arrested separately for the murder.
A sheriff’s department news release issued after the arrests last year stated Daoussis was a prospective gang member.
The investigation sent detectives to Hawaii and Georgia for interviews, Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Montanez said after the arrests, “Getting different pieces of the puzzle, different people confirming different things.”
The trial took 22 days, spanning from Oct. 21 to Dec. 7 in the Fontana courtroom of Judge Ingrid Uhler.
The district attorney’s office called several witnesses, and Deputy District Attorney John Thomas’ evidence included photographs of Daoussis’ body lying in the Landers desert as well as DNA charts.
Defense attorneys called no witnesses of their own, court records show.
On the final day of deliberations, Uhler replaced one of the jurors but denied a defense motion to declare a mistrial.
Silva and Beltran will be sentenced Feb. 23.