GUILTY: Cousins convicted of murdering Kevin Shepperson in Willenhall
Two cousins have been found guilty of the murder of Kevin Shepperson who was found battered and bludgeoned to death in his Willenhall home.
Wayne Kendall, 22, and Nazeem Kendall, 21, were both convicted of the 39-year-old's murder at Wolverhampton Crown Court today.
The two defendants were both also found guilty of robbery.
A jury of eight men and four women took just over three-and-a-half hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts.
A third defendant, 21-year-old Cameron MacKenzie, had pleaded guilty to the murder ahead of the trial and will now be sentenced along with the two defendants.
Savage attack
During the trial the jury heard that Wayne Kendall, who lived in the flat below Mr Shepperson in Bloxwich Road South and had allegedly been invited up for a chat, "saw red" after Mr Shepperson admitted that he fancied a girl aged 15 or 16, it was claimed.
Kendall launched a savage attack and was joined by both his cousin Nazeem and friend Cameron MacKenzie who were staying with him, alleged Mr Alan Kent QC.
The victim was beaten, kicked and stamped on as well as being beaten with a dumbbell and hit with a boxing glove, maintained the prosecutor.
Mr Shepperson suffered injuries to his brain and ribs during the onslaught on the morning of August 21 last year but was not found until around noon the following day, the court was told.
More from the trial:
The body was bound hand and foot with a T-shirt stuffed in the mouth to gag the victim.
A friend made the horrific discovery in the blood-spattered hall of the top-floor flat in a three-storey block in Bloxwich Road South.
Life in prison
Mr Shepperson's family were not in court when the verdicts were given this afternoon.
Judge James Burbidge QC said he was not in a position to sentence them during that hearing and thanked the jury for their time.
He added that the sentence for murder would be life in prison and each defendant would receive that.
Wayne Kendall, of Bloxwich Road South, Nazeem Kendall, of no fixed address, and Cameron MacKenzie, of Richmond Street in Chuckery, will all be sentenced together at a future date to be set.
