HAMILTON — A Middletown man will either be sentenced to death or to life in prison next week, following a three-judge panel's guilty verdicts against him Wednesday.

        Derrick Bird, 21, swayed in his seat, but otherwise appeared stoic as Judge H.J. Bressler read the decision in Butler County Common Pleas Court. Judge Bressler and judges Matthew J. Crehan and Patricia Oney deliberated about two hours before convicting Mr. Bird of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery in the May 2001 slaying of Marion Gilbert Emmett, 37.

        A co-defendant, Brad Isbell, also 21 of Middletown, is set for trial June 2-4.

        Mr. Emmett , known as “Gil,” had been robbed of $1 and an ATM card, and was beaten to death. His body was found in a Middletown cemetery.

        Longtime courthouse employees said they believed this was the first time in at least a decade that a defendant chose a three-judge panel rather than a jury to try a death-penalty case, said Joe Statzer, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

        On Friday and Monday, the trio of judges will consider whether Mr. Bird should be executed or serve life in prison. It has been six years since Butler County sent anyone to death row.

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