Jury returns guilty verdict in 2002 stabbing death

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- A Windsor man was found guilty Wednesday of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in a stabbing death after a homecoming party last year.

Robert Beal, 26, of Windsor, faces life in prison for stabbing Zandon Maddix, 22, last Oct. 5.

Attorney Dewayne Perry argued that Beal was defending himself when he stabbed Maddix following a homecoming party.

But Benton County Prosecutor Karen Woodley said Beal attacked and stabbed Maddix several times in the leg in the back seat of a car after making derogatory remarks to Maddix.

Maddix, 22, later bled to death in the car when his friends had to stop on the way to help to repair a tire that Beal allegedly slashed.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 26.