MONROE COUNTY, MI (WTOL) - A Monroe County jury found Daniel Clay guilty of felony murder in the death of Chelsea Bruck and concealing her body.
The jury needed just over two hours to come to a decision in the case.
Clay could face up to life in prison.
This came after Clay's attorney shocked the courtroom by telling the jury during closing arguments he thinks his client is guilty.
He told the jury is client is guilty of concealing a body and involuntary manslaughter, though he went short of saying Clay murdered Bruck following a Halloween party in 2014.
He believed the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter fits the crimes that Clay committed.
Prosecutor Michael Roehrig held up Chelsea's Halloween costume she wore on the night she died to make his closing arguments.
"As damaged as it is, it speaks for Chelsea. It shouts for Chelsea," Roehrig said of the costume. "And the message is clear, Chelsea would not tear and sever the straps on her own costume, nor the crotch on her own costume. Not on her prized creation that she was so excited about to wear for the first time to that party."
The prosecution went on to say that the evidence is beyond a reasonable doubt that Clay is guilty of murder and first-degree murder, which means premeditated murder.
However, the jury convicted Clay of murder, rather than first-degree, because the jury did not feel there was enough proof Bruck's murder was premeditated.
"No amount of criminal justice can bring Chelsea back or the victim of any homicide," Roehrig said after the verdict. But I think the verdict does speak volumes about what the defendant did that day. And it certainly brings some measure of justice to the family as well."
Clay will not be sentenced until July 13.
