A jury has convicted two Navajos in the shooting and burning deaths of two tribal police officers, but couldn't agree on a verdict for a third defendant, who now faces a murder retrial. The federal jury on Tuesday found Thomas Cly, 22, and Vinton Bedoni, 31, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of using a firearm in the December killings. Prosecutors said they would seek a new murder trial for the third defendant, Ben Atene Jr. Atene, 22, must be retried within 70 days under federal speedy trial rules. He was being held without bail in the Salt Lake County Jail. ``The people on the (Navajo) reservation were watching to see whether white man's justice worked,'' said U.S. Attorney Brent Ward, who added he had ``never been so pleased'' with a case since taking his post. Ward said Atene's next trial might be aided by more witnesses, who, in light of the two convictions, might admit to being at the murder scene. U.S. District Judge Thomas Greene set sentencing for Cly and Bedoni for Oct. 3. The first-degree murder charges each carry a possible life sentence and the weapons charges carry five years. The jury deliberated 48 hours before convicting Cly and Bedoni. Greene then ordered the jurors to continue deliberations for Atene. When they were unable to come to a decision 90 minutes later, Greene declared a mistrial in Atene's case. Greene denied a defense request to acquit Atene. First-degree murder charges were dismissed July 22 against Atene's 22-year-old brother, Marques Atene, when prosecutors acknowledged they didn't have enough evidence for a conviction. The defendants were charged in the slayings of officers Roy Lee Stanley and Andy Begay, whose charred bodies were found Dec. 5 inside a burned-out police truck in a remote southern Utah canyon. During the trial, prosecution witnesses testified that the officers were shot at the scene of a bonfire and drinking party on the night of Dec. 4. Alcohol is illegal on the reservation. Defense attorney Robert VanSciver said he planned to discuss the possibility of appeal with his client, Bedoni. Attorney Ed Brass said he was certain Cly would challenge his conviction. The verdict brought relief and sadness to Marie Holiday, whose brother was Stanley. ``I've been thinking about my brother Roy all during this trial,'' she said. ``I kept thinking about him, so I have this mixed feeling and I don't know how to describe it.'' The killings have divided the community of about 2,000 Navajos living in Monument Valley in southeastern Utah, she said, and she and her family have been ostracized by many of their neighbors. ``They all wept with us when my brother died, but then when these people were arrested for it, they all turned the other way,'' she said.
