Man found guilty of murder in Hollywood severed-head case

LOS ANGELES -- A 38-year-old man has been convicted of murdering his live-in boyfriend, dismembering him and dumping his severed head, hands and feet near the Hollywood sign three years ago.

Gabriel Campos-Martinez was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday afternoon in connection to the murder of 66-year-old Hervey Medellin, who he had been dating and living with.

Prosecutors say Campos-Martinez strangled then dismembered Medellin in December 2011. The body parts were refrigerated before being bagged and buried near the Bronson Canyon Trail in Griffith Park.

A dog walker found a human head wrapped in plastic. Police later located Medellin's hands and feet.

The jury considered the plastic used to be a key piece of evidence.

"They thought it was significant that the killer would have used that to wrap up the head which was found on January the 17th, and that same type of plastic was found in the victim's residence," Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace said.

During the investigation, officials seized a laptop from the couple's apartment. Grace says jurors also believed beyond a reasonable doubt it was Campos-Martinez who searched the Internet for how to "Butcher a Human Carcass for Human Consumption" the day after Medellin was last seen alive.

The tools used and his torso were never found. But just last week, the medical examiner finally received confirmation that human tissue in a bag discovered in 2014, not far from the other body parts, was Medellin's.

"There were three fairly large pieces of tissue, but it's not enough to be able to say that it came from the back, from the leg, from the fleshy part of the arm," Grace said.

Police will return to the area to conduct another search.

Campos-Martinez is set to be sentenced on Nov. 16. He faces 25 years to life in prison.