A man who told police "I am always a gentleman to women" was convicted Wednesday of rape and murder in a verdict that took jurors less than a day to reach.
Demetrius Shaffer, 32, is likely to be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for the sex killing of Rajneet Kor Singh on Jan. 1, 2011.
He also was convicted on seven more sex counts in the Thanksgiving Day 2010 attack of another woman.
"We're very happy that justice has been done," Singh's cousin, Mohini Singh Farias, told reporters after the jury returned the Sacramento Superior Court verdict.
According to the evidence at trial, Shaffer met up with Singh, 37, at the Rancho Cordova apartment of a mutual friend.
The two of them smoked methamphetamine together before walking across the street to the Rancho's Club Casino on Folsom Boulevard at Mills Park Drive.
Singh's body was found behind a brick wall a block away, about seven hours after video cameras filmed her and Shaffer leaving the casino around 3:40 a.m.
"Justice was done today," Deputy District Attorney Thienvu Ho said.
Judge Maryanne G. Gilliard scheduled Shaffer's sentencing for Feb. 16.
Assistant Public Defender Michael Nelson said he and his client were "disappointed" with the verdict.
"We believe the evidence pointed to another man committing the crime," Nelson said.
Trace DNA samples found on Singh's body did implicate other men, but the prosecutor told jurors that Shaffer's genetic material was all over her body – including scrapings underneath her fingernails that matched the defendant.
Along with the DNA, there were the videotapes that showed Shaffer and Singh walking into the casino and then leaving together.
Ho also told jurors in his closing argument that Shaffer lied 15 times to detectives when they first questioned him about the killing.
The deputy DA said the "biggest lie of all" was the one where he told investigators, "I am always a gentleman to a woman."
Singh's sister, Roshil Singh, described the victim as "a loving person who had a good heart and who was always considerate of other people."
"She was loved by countless people," Roshil Singh said. "I want people to remember her not for how she died but for the person that she was, and that was a beautiful person."
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