Calif. Man Convicted Of N.J. Church Shooting

PATERSON, N.J. (AP) -- A California man has been convicted on all counts in the shooting deaths of his estranged wife and another person inside a New Jersey church.

Joseph Pallipurath faces life in prison without parole when he's sentenced May 27.

The Sacramento man was convicted Wednesday afternoon of the knowing and purposeful murders of 24-year-old Reshma James and 25-year-old Dennis Mallooseril, a bystander who tried to help her. He was also convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of another woman who was seriously wounded but survived.

Passaic County prosecutors say Pallipurath drove across the country to confront his wife, who had come to New Jersey to escape what relatives say was an abusive marriage. He was armed with more than 100 rounds of ammunition and two handguns when he entered the vestibule of St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Kananaya Church in Clifton on Nov. 23, 2008.

Pallipurath fled after the shootings, but was arrested in Georgia the next day.

Defense attorney Harley Breite didn't dispute that Pallipurath was the gunman, but told jurors that he acted in the heat of passion. He asked them to convict Pallipurath of passion-provocation manslaughter.

The jury had started its deliberations on Tuesday morning, but the panel had to start anew on Wednesday when one member failed to show up in court and was replaced by an alternate. The revised jury then reached its verdict in about two hours.

Meanwhile, officers were dispatched to the missing juror's home after he failed to contact court officials by late Wednesday morning. They soon discovered the man was still in bed asleep.

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