David Enrique Meza (pictured above, right) -- who strutted his stuff as a gay-for-pay model using the names "
Francisco" and "Mario Romo" -- was found guilty this week for the murder of his wealthy lover, Clyde Merendino.
The murder took place on May 1, 2015, during a trip to Mexico where Merendino had business in Rosarito, Baja California. They shared a hotel room in the area.
According to witnesses, the older man left the hotel at 1 a.m. to "help a friend," and was later found in a ravine stabbed over 20 times in the chest and stomach. His throat had been slashed.
Meza admitted he and his girlfriend Taylor Marie Langston had planned to rob Merendino and lured him to the ravine, but he claimed the two got cold feet. He denied having any part in or knowledge of the murder.
However, the model did claim that a hand-written note on hotel stationary named him Merendino's sole heir. Meza was hoping to inherit a $3 million estate, as well as a deluxe oceanfront condominium in Mexico.
After a week of deliberation, a San Diego jury found Meza guilty of murder, and of conspiring to obstruct justice by covering up the murder. He will be sentenced in August and is facing life in prison.
Meza’s girlfriend was charged as an accessory to the murder, with camera footage showing her crossing into Mexico around the same time. The two have a child together.
Langston eventually pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and is currently awaiting sentencing; she faces up to 20 years.
May they both RIP (rot in prison).