CRANDON - Seven men and five women from Forest County decided that Ray Jones, 46, intended to kill Steven Roberts in March 2014. The twelve jurors returned a unanimous guilty verdict Friday afternoon. Jones was on trial in Crandon for attempted murder. The jury made its decision after one hour, 26 minutes of deliberations.
"When we get a verdict of guilty, which we're pleased to get, because that's justice being done in this particular case, it is more so a situation where it's relief that he didn't get away," said Forest County District Attorney Chuck Simono after the verdict.
Jones was on trial for his role in a series of assaults on Roberts last March. Witnesses testified that Jones and his friend, Justin Bey, repeatedly choked, kicked, hit, and stomped on Roberts over the course of two days. They then left him, in a battered state, in the remote woods east of Crandon as overnight temperatures dropped near zero. A pair of ATV riders found Roberts after he had been in the woods for about 20 hours. The man had several broken ribs and facial bones, and was suffering from severe frostbite.
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