AUGUSTA -- A jury has found John A. Okie guilty of two counts of murder for killing a former girlfriend and his father in July 2007.

The Kennebec County Superior Court Jury took less than three hours to return the guilty verdict. Sentencing will take place at a later date.

Okie's lawyer, Peter DeTroy, acknowledged on the first day of the trial that Okie, 22, killed Alexandra "Aleigh" Mills, 19, and John S.Okie, 59, six days apart that summer.

DeTroy argued that Okie suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was not crimimally responsible when he beat Mills to death in her Wayne home with a wooden post and then stabbed his father to death at the Okie home in Newcastle.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, successfully argued Okie knew he was committing a crime when he killed the two and should be found guilty of two murders.

12:15 p.m.
The John A. Okie trial is in the hands of the jury.

The case went to the jury at noon. Deliberations are expected to begin after the jury breaks for lunch.

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A prosecutor this morning urged jurors to find John A. Okie guilty of two murders. Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese presented closing arguments for the state against Okie, 22, accused of killing a former girlfriend and his father in July 2007.

"There is overwhelming evidence that he intentionally and knowingly caused the death of Alexandra Mills and John S. Okie," Marchese said.

She told jurors Okie was sane and knew that what he was doing was wrong because he took steps to cover up his role and lied to police.

Defense attorney Peter DeTroy is to present his closing arguments shortly.

This is the eighth day of Okie's trial in Kennebec County Superior Court. The jury is expected to deliberate this afternoon.