Donald Rolle showed no emotion as a jury convicted him Wednesday of the kidnapping and murder of Jennifer Randel, a Casper woman he beat to death after they went on a date.

Members of Randel's family cried as a clerk read the verdict in Natrona County District Court at 6:18 p.m., on the 13th day of the trial. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about six hours before finding Rolle guilty of first-degree murder.

The same jury will return to court today to begin the penalty phase of the trial. They will determine whether Rolle should get the death penalty or life in prison.

Speaking outside the courtroom, Randel's brother, Richie Randel, said his family "finally got some closure."

"We feel like, at least the first part of justice has been done," he said. "We are not done yet. There is still a little bit more to go, to find out exactly what the state deems necessary for them to do with him. We are very happy with the outcome."

In returning the guilty verdict, jurors agreed with prosecutors, who said Rolle beat, stabbed and strangled Randel during a brutal attack that lasted hours. Randel, a 40-year-old mother of two, was found dead Nov. 4 inside Rolle's truck, along a dirt road west of Casper.

The night before, the two had gone on a date to Butch's Bar in Evansville. It abruptly ended when Rolle saw another man he suspected had slept with Randel. That man, Keith Rummel, testified he didn't have an affair with Randel.

Later that night, Randel called 911 and told a dispatcher she was in Rolle's truck, needed help and couldn't get away from him. She could be heard screaming and telling Rolle he was hurting her.

According to prosecutors, Rolle brutally beat Randel in his truck, then drove her to a remote stretch of prairie near the intersection of Oregon Trail and Canal Road, where the beating continued. A coroner determined she had been struck in the head multiple times and died from swelling in her brain.

"He beat her to death, he strangled her, he stabbed her and he left her on that cold Natrona County road to die," District Attorney Michael Blonigen told jurors during closing arguments earlier in the day.

Rolle and Randel had an on-again, off-again relationship for several years before her murder, and the prosecution offered several witnesses who testified to domestic abuse she suffered at his hands. Both of Randel's sons told jurors they saw Rolle hit their mother.

"The truth came out," said Kim McCandlish, a friend of Randel's who testified during the trial. "She is beautiful and wonderful and she is going to be missed by so many people."

Rolle, 47, took the stand earlier this week and claimed Randel came at him with a knife during a fight in his truck. However, Blonigen pointed out several inconsistencies in Rolle's story.

Whatever happens in the trial's penalty phase, the jury's verdict holds Rolle responsible for Randel's murder, Blonigen said.

"The penalty is secondary to the verdict," he said. "There's so much hype around the capital part, but this is the most important part, that we held him responsible."

Rolle's lead attorney, Vaughn Neubauer, declined to comment to a reporter as he left the courthouse. Neubauer had argued Rolle didn't plan to kill Randel when they went on the date to Butch's. He told jurors Randel's death occurred in a sudden heat of passion, and therefore amounted to manslaughter, rather than murder.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.

Trial tracker

Last we knew: Attorneys finished presenting evidence to jurors in the Donald Rolle murder trial.

The latest: A jury convicted Rolle of kidnapping and murdering Jennifer Randel.

What's next: Jurors will now decide whether Rolle should received the death penalty or life in prison.

Last we knew: Attorneys finished presenting evidence to jurors in the Donald Rolle murder trial.

The latest: A jury convicted Rolle of kidnapping and murdering Jennifer Randel.

What's next: Jurors will now decide whether Rolle should received the death penalty or life in prison.]]->