Jury convicts Smith in teachers murder

12 Calhoun county jurors deliberated for just 30 minutes this morning before finding 24 year old Nicholas Smith guilty in the April 2011 murder of 29-year-old Kevin Thompson.  The jury found Smith guilty of committing an intentional murder during a kidnapping in the first degree and committing an intentional murder during a robbery in the first degree.  Jurors will return to Circuit Judge Brian Howell’s courtroom on July 8 to begin the sentencing phase of the trial. Jurors will decide next week if Smith is given life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.