WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A man accused of shooting five co-workers at a granite company in Maryland was convicted Tuesday of attempted manslaughter in the later shooting of a man in Delaware.
A New Castle County jury found Radee Prince, 38, guilty of attempted manslaughter, reckless endangering, resisting arrest, carrying a concealed weapon and two counts of possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.
Prince had been charged with attempted murder in the October shooting of Wilmington businessman Jason Baul, but the jury opted to convict him on the lesser charge of attempted manslaughter. Prince testified that he feared Baul, with whom he had several run-ins, and said the shooting was in self-defense.
A judge set an Aug. 31 sentencing date for Prince, who faces at least eight years in prison and a maximum of 89 years behind bars.
Three of Prince’s co-workers were mortally wounded in the Oct. 18 shooting at Advanced Granite Solutions in Harford County, Maryland, before Prince drove to a used car lot in Wilmington and shot Baul. He was captured in Delaware after a 10-hour manhunt.
Prince will be tried later in Maryland on charges including three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Authorities have said Prince gathered several co-workers around him at the Maryland countertop manufacturing firm, telling them he wanted to talk to them, then opened fire without warning.
Bayarsaikhan Tudev, 53, of Virginia; Jose Hidalgo Romero, 34, of Aberdeen, Maryland; and Enis Mrvoljak, 48, of Dundalk, Maryland, were killed. Jose Roberto Flores Gillen, 37, and Enoc Sosa, 38, were wounded.
Investigators have not disclosed a specific motive for the shootings, but co-workers and acquaintances said Prince had a violent temper and difficulty in getting along with others.
In February 2017, eight months before the shootings, the owner of another Harford County business, JPS Marble and Granite, sought a restraining order against Prince after firing him for punching a co-worker and threatening other employees.
Tudev’s widow told The Associated Press that her husband was so concerned about Prince’s temper that he brought it up in church prayer sessions.
Prince has an extensive criminal record that includes 42 arrests and 15 felony convictions in Delaware. He was charged with offensive touching in 2014 after putting a co-worker in a chokehold, but that case was dismissed. In 2016, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting Baul, but those charges were dropped.
The shooting rampage set off an intense manhunt along the Interstate 95 Northeast corridor, with the FBI assisting state and local authorities.
Prince was arrested in Glasgow, 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Wilmington, after a tip led authorities to his vehicle. He was spotted nearby and discarded a handgun when he saw police had recognized him. He was captured after a brief foot pursuit.
Authorities have not said how Prince, who was prohibited from having a gun, obtained the .380 caliber pistol believed to be used in the shootings.
Prince was tried first in the state where he was arrested, in part because Delaware criminal sentencing law does not provide for parole, so a sentence there would have more certainty, authorities in both states said.
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