TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - 16 months after the body of Tallahassee man Hoyt Birge is found stuffed in the trunk of a car... four people charged with first degree murder are found guilty of a lesser charge.
It's a complex case with twist after twist.
"I don't know that relief is an inappropriate word," explains Page Briggs' attorney Alex Morris. "I think that, uh, he looked at me and said, 'I think what the jury did was fair'."
Four defendants charged with murder....all with similar results.
David Howard, Page Briggs, Patrick Berrane, and Stanley West... all found guilty of third degree murder and false imprisonment in the 2017 death of Hoyt Birge.
The victim's family did not speak to cameras as they left court....visibly upset.
The jury did not agree with the state, rejecting the first-degree murder charges.
Anthony Bajoczky, the defense attorney for Stanley West, tells WTXL ABC 27, "I think he is very happy that he was not found guilty of a '10 to life' offense, and if it is not a '10 to life' offense again then his sentence would be much less than if they had found him guilty of having a firearm."
A lone defendant was exonerated at this trial. Vicki Strickland was found not guilty of being an accessory after the fact.
"I think she was ecstatic," says Strickland's attorney, Chuck Hobbs. "I think that over the last year and a half it has been a nightmare for her, because again not only did Hoyt Birge die right in her presence, but that the fact a number of her friends and her boyfriend were on trail for his murder."
But in the end, it's a final decision these four now convicted murderers have to live with the rest of their lives.
"This trial has been a week long so there have been a whole lot of surprises," expresses Patrick Berrane's defense attorney Zachary Ward. "Just grateful for the jury's hard work and I think they reached a verdict that will probably satisfy nobody, but that means they did a good job."
Again, this trial involved only *five* of the eight people charged in the death of Hoyt Birge.
The judge Thursday night set a case management hearing for October 2nd.
Meanwhile, a sixth suspect, Paige Vowell, has already been sentenced to life in prison.
Jesse Fox and Britteny Guthrie -- have yet to go to trial.
