LAWRENCE — A Lawrence man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing a diner in a downtown restaurant last year.
A Superior Court jury deliberated for 12 hours over three days before yesterday convicting Richard Figueroa, 42, of 193 Spruce St., of first-degree murder in the Jan. 31, 2008, shooting death of Luis Alcantara, 28, of 66 Saunders St. in Lawrence.
Immediately after the verdict, Judge Richard Welch sentenced Figueroa to life in prison without parole.
Alcantara was sitting at a table inside La Bahia Restaurant at 15 Newbury St., when Figueroa walked in and shot him several times before making his getaway in a taxi.
There were four employees in the restaurant when police arrived. One of them identified Figueroa as the gunman.
A key witness who helped investigators solve the crime was a cab driver who dropped Figueroa off near the restaurant and picked him up and dropped him off at a Salem Street home a short time later.
Police said Figueroa broke into a house at 59 Salem St. to hide from them after the shooting. That's where investigators found him hiding under the bed in a bedroom. Police later recovered a stainless steel .357 Magnum revolver from under a dresser in the bedroom.
