Jury convicts man in case of bodies in barrels

Jurors have convicted a Monroe County man of fatally shooting two men whose decomposed bodies were found sealed in drums on his property.

Jurors deliberated three hours Friday before finding 52-year-old Jerry Pelfree guilty of two counts of murder in the slayings of 35-year-old Everett Lynn Shaw of Gosport and 23-year-old Douglas Allen Brown of Bloomington. Their dismembered, decaying bodies were found in September 2007 near Pelfree's mobile home a few miles outside Bloomington.

Pelfree could face up to 65 years in prison on each count.

Defense attorney Ron Chapman said the murders could have been committed by Troy Harden, who testified this week that he helped Pelfree dispose of the bodies after Pelfree had killed the men.