Nevada man convicted of murder and sex assault two years after teen found dead
A Nevada jury has found a 20-year-old man guilty of first-degree murder and sexual assault with a deadly weapon in the death of a Spring Creek teenager two years ago.
The same jury was scheduled to return to district court Monday for the penalty phase after convicting Bryce Dickey Thursday in the killing of 16-year-old Gabrielle "Britney" Ujaky, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.
Prosecutors said earlier they weren't seeking the death penalty.
Police originally treated Ujaky's disappearance as a runaway case after Dickey told investigators he saw her get into a pickup truck with a tall man wearing a cowboy hat outside Spring Creek High School on March 8, 2020
Her body was discovered three days later wrapped in a blue tarp and Dickey was arrested eight days after that.
Ujaky and Dickey had been friends for years and knew each other from the rodeo community, the Daily Beast reported.
A girl who previously dated Dickey for over a year testified that he had choked her on four occasions, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.
Defense attorney Gary Woodbury told jurors at the opening of the seven-day trial that the prosecution's case was "entirely circumstantial."
"You will not hear any evidence that anybody anywhere saw Bryce Dickey kill or rape Britney Ujlaky," he said.
District Attorney Tyler Ingram said the state also wasn't required to provide an eyewitness to the crime.
"You can look at the circumstantial evidence to decide whether the state has proven the intent beyond a reasonable doubt," he said.
