Jury finds Mentus guilty of manslaughter - EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Go to Mobile Version

Sat, Nov 21 2009

Published: October 09, 2009 05:24 pm PrintThis

Jury finds Mentus guilty of manslaughter

James A. Kimble
jkimble@eagletribune.com

BRENTWOOD — Jurors today quickly convicted a Danville man of manslaughter in the shooting death of 20-year-old Deidre Budzyna in Sandown last summer.

Adam Mentus, 20, was found guilty after a Rockingham County Superior Court jury deliberated for about an hour. Mentus faces the possibility of 15 to 30 years in state prison.

Mentus shot Budzyna on June 26, 2008, while sitting in the back seat of an sport utility vehicle. Mentus was toying with a gun while sitting behind Budzyna in the SUV.

She was shot once through the back. Defense lawyers argued the shooting was accidental and likely caused by a shoddy brand of .380-caliber handgun.

A sentencing date has not yet been set in the case.

ÔÇæÔÇæÔÇæ

Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.

PrintThis More stories from the New Hampshire section

Welcome to our online comments feature. To join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address. Once you do, your comments will post automatically. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.