HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) — Jaime Tinoco killed Nicole Laube in 2014, a Washington County jury said Tuesday.
The jury of 3 men and 11 women (including the 2 alternates) found Tinoco guilty of both aggravated murder and unlawful use of a weapon in the brutal slaying of the 29-year-old mother of 4. They heard testimony over most of last week in a Washington County courtroom and got the case last Friday.
Tinoco, who is already serving 14 years for raping a woman in Eugene a month after he killed Laube, showed almost no emotion when the verdict was read.
Because Tinoco was 17 when he killed Laube, he will not face the death penalty. However he does face life in prison — either with or without parole.The Laube family would prefer life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The sentencing phase will begin Wednesday. This process could last several days.
“It was a very emotional moment for me,” Laube’s father said. “Nothing will bring our daughter back, but I’m so thankful that we have finally come to this moment where he is going to face the justice that he deserves.”
Her husband, Chris Laube, said the verdict was “what we’ve hoped and we expected to finally be said.”
Tinoco’s parents were also in court for the verdict.
Jones, who said the trial “was so much more difficult than I thought,” has put in a request to meet with Tinoco’s parents.
“I would like to meet with them because I would like to know from them how this has affected them,” Jones said. “This man has not only hurt us, he has hurt them.”
The trial
The jury heard Tinoco confess to killing the 29-year-old mother of 4 while she passed out flyers at an apartment complex where she worked.
In the videotaped confession played during the prosecution’s open statements, Tinoco confessed he “was thinking about doing the same thing” to Laube as he did to a woman he was convicted of raping outside Autzen Stadium after a football game in September 2014.
Tinoco’s attorneys argued there is no DNA evidence linking him to Laube’s murder and he was pressured into confessing.
Nicole Laube was stabbed to death on August 19, 2014 as she passed out leasing flyers at the apartment complex where she worked.
The first witness to testify, Robert Ogle, was the person Nicole Laube ran to for help after she was attacked.
“I asked her, ‘Who stabbed you?’ She said, ‘I don’t know. He’s wearing cargo pants and a black hoodie,’” Ogle testified.
The first witness to testify, Robert Ogle, was the person Nicole Laube ran to for help after she was attacked.
“I asked her, ‘Who stabbed you?’ She said, ‘I don’t know. He’s wearing cargo pants and a black hoodie,’” Ogle testified.
In their opening statements, Tinoco’s defense attorneys argued there is no scientific DNA linking him to Laube’s murder and that he is not the only person who confessed to the crime. He was arrested 7 months after her murder.
Defense attorney Scott Sharp said Tinoco’s confession is “the admission of a pressured kid and a product of his mentally ill mind.”
“Keep in mind all the evidence you won’t get, that you won’t see — the DNA, fingerprints, the blood spatters, the knife,” Sharp told the jury. “That’s why at the end of this case we’ll be asking for a not guilty verdict.”