A federal court jury in Rutland has found a 31-year-old man guilty of causing the death of a woman he believed had stolen drugs from him.
The jury returned the verdict Wednesday in the trial of Frank Caraballo, of Holyoke, Mass.
Vermont U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin says the jury found Caraballo guilty of murdering Melissa Barratt, but he was acquitted of firing the weapon that caused her death. Coffin says that in some drug cases suspects can be convicted of murder even if they did not directly cause the death.
Caraballo was also convicted of conspiring to distribute drugs and using a gun in a crime.
Caraballo was charged with killing Barratt, of Brattleboro, on July 29, 2011. His attorneys had argued another person killed Barratt.
