Loomis man found guilty of murder

After deliberating for more than four days a jury found Gary Allen Bortis guilty of murder in the first degree Friday for the 2005 killing of Lawrence "Cutter" Ficarra.Bortis, 48, of Loomis was also found guilty of multiple felony charges including two counts of possession of a machine gun, two counts of possession of an assault weapon and felony possession of armor piercing ammunition. "The evidence supported the first-degree verdict," said prosecutor Cliff Gessner. "There was a lot of talk about motive and planning and the manner of the killing."Bortis fired 11 shots from a .9mm handgun, eight of which hit the 52-year-old developer Sept. 8, 2005.The convicted killer, who now faces 25-years-to-life in prison, exhibited no emotion as the verdict was read.Jeff Tochterman, Bortis' Sacramento attorney, has said the shooting was in self-defense of Bortis' girlfriend, Mary Anne Stein."I'm guessing the jury believed the (District Attorney's) version of what happened, which I found implausible," Tochterman said outside the courtroom.Stein, who was also on trial for being an accessory to Ficarra's murder, claimed the victim choked her and it was that incident which led to the shooting. She remains free on bail and was found guilty Friday of a single felony charge of being an accessory to murder after the fact.