Michael Valva found guilty of second-degree murder in death of 8-year-old son Thomas Valva

A verdict was reached Friday night in the case against the former NYPD officer accused in the death of his 8-year-old son.

CBS2's Jennifer McLogan has been covering this story since it broke two years ago and was in the courtroom.

She reports you could hear a pin drop as the verdict was read, then a gasp -- guilty of murdering his 8-year-old son, Thomas, who had autism.

"The most important result of this was justice for Tommy," one woman said.

"This type of torture that was allowed to go on for so many years," another woman said.

"The unbelievable tragedy of this case ... A small, small measure of justice," Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

In the months leading up to his death from hypothermia, 8-year-old Tommy was subjected to unspeakable cruelties, including starvation, beatings and emotional abuse. Yet the defense argued, "Despite parental deficiencies, Michael did not want Thomas to die."

"There was a signifcant amount of evidence against our client and so we understand the verdict, we are disappointed in the verdict," defense attorney John Loturco said.

Valva's lawyers claim the ex-NYPD cop was controlled by his domineering fiancée, Angela Pollina, who despised Thomas and 10-year-old Anthony because they were on the autism spectrum.

After they moved into the Bittersweet Lane home in Center Moriches with her daughters, the two brothers suffered from incontinence. It was Pollina's idea to banish them to the garage, and when they had toilet accidents, Valva texted, "Ok, I'll beat them up again. Talking don't work. Maybe a bloody face will."

Jurors appeared overcome with evidence -- photos and videos of the boys shivering on the concrete floor, eating off paper plates, sleeping in subzero temperatures without pillows or blankets.

On the freezing January morning Thomas died, says the ADA, he had toilet issues. His dad hosed him off naked in the backyard. Thomas stumbled and fell on his face. Valva can be heard saying on the security camera, "He's cold. Boo [expletive] hoo."

When Valva called 911, he told the operator, "My name is Michael. I'm a police officer with the city of New York. My son, I don't know if he's breathing or not. I don't know if his heart stopped. He fell down on his way to the bus. He banged his head pretty good. I brought him in. I'm doing CPR right now."

Thomas was dead, a body temperature of 76 degrees. 

The defense team argued it was not intentional depraved indifference and asked the jury to convict on the lesser of the three charges -- criminally negligent homicide. They argued Valva was overwhelmed emotionally and financially after a contentious custody battle with his ex-wife, Justyna Zubko Valva, who was not present at the trial, as she is suing the county.

When police came to arrest Valva and Pollina, they were in bed together. Tommy's backpack with personal notes and art lay untouched on the garage floor.

ADA Kerriann Kelly told a hushed courtroom, "The kind of belonging that any loving, grieving parent would have latched onto, it meant nothing to him, just like Thomas."

Thomas's two brothers are back in the custody of their mother.

Angela Pollina's trial due to begin in January as this heart wrenching saga goes on.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney released the following statement Friday night in response to the verdict in the Valva trial:

"Today the jury has spoken on the tragic murder of Thomas Valva by his father, the defendant Michael Valva. This guilty verdict will not bring back 8-year-old Thomas, who suffered immense cruelty at the hands of his father, the same person who was entrusted to protect, provide and unconditionally love Thomas and his older brother Anthony. This case is heartbreaking, and it has been one of the toughest child abuse trials for our prosecutors, court personnel and jurors. No child should ever have to endure such evil acts. While there is nothing that we can do to bring Thomas back, we are satisfied with the jury's decision. Michael Valva subjected his sons to horrific abuse, neglect and cruelty. He will now pay for cutting short the life of a young, innocent, defenseless boy who had a lifetime ahead of him. I thank the jury for their service. Because we have another case on this matter pending, I will not comment any further at this time."   

CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reports Michael Valva has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his 8-year-old son, Thomas. He faces 25 years to life in prison.

He was also found guilty of child endangerment of both Thomas and his 10-year-old brother Anthony.

CBS2's Jennifer McLogan has followed the Thomas Valva story from the beginning, and she was in the courthouse when the trial started in September. 

As she reported, the eight women and four men of the jury were visibly shaken listening to wrenching details of years of punishment for Thomas and 10-year-old brother Anthony's bedwetting. Prosecutors said the children, on the autism spectrum, were denied food, access to a bathroom, arrived at school in soiled clothing, scrounged for food in trash cans, limping, bruised and shivering.

Michael Valva's defense team argued Thomas' death was an accident and cast blame on his ex-fiancée, Angela Pollina, calling her a wicked, cruel stepmother. She will be tried separately. 

Prosecutors said Thomas had just been sprayed with a cold hose by his father, washing off urine, saying the child was nearly naked when he fell over and lost consciousness.

"My name is Michael. I'm a police officer with the city of New York. My son, I don't know if he's breathing or not. I don't know if his heart stopped. He fell down on his way to the bus. He banged his head pretty good. I brought him in. I'm doing CPR right now," Michael Valva says on 911 audio that was presented during pretrial hearings.  

Michael Valva was in the midst of a contentious divorce from the boys' mother, Justina Zubko-Valva, when he moved with Pollina into what was described as a house of horrors.

Thomas Valva's mother has filed a $200 million federal lawsuit against Suffolk County for "a series of failures" before her son's death.