Man convicted in murder of anchorwoman

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By ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) | A man was convicted of capital murder Wednesday for beating an Arkansas TV anchorwoman so brutally that her face was shattered and she never regained consciousness before dying five days later.

Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, could face the death penalty for the assault on Anne Pressly at her Little Rock bungalow. The same jury that convicted him reconvened to hear testimony about whether he should be put to death or imprisoned without the possibility of parole.

After the verdict, Pressly's mother, Patti Cannady, raised a hand and said, "Praise God. Praise God." She burst into sobs.

Vance, of Marianna, Ark., was also convicted of residential burglary along with rape and theft of property in the Oct. 20, 2008, attack. Once jurors delivered the guilty verdict, Vance gestured toward the empty jury box, pointed to his eyes and ears and shook his head.

The weekend before she was attacked, Pressly, a 26-year-old local celebrity, had been celebrating her bit part in the President George W. Bush biopic "W." Due on KATV's "Daybreak" program at 5 a.m. that Monday, she never answered more than 40 wake-up calls made by her parents.

In confessions made to police, Vance said he went to Pressly's neighborhood looking to steal laptop computers. After entering her home through a Dutch door she left open for her dogs, authorities said, Vance found the computer he sought - and Pressly.

Ms. Cannady, who was in town, told jurors that she drove to her daughter's house and found her battered and lying in a fetal position on her bed.

"Anne, Momma's here. Momma's here," Ms. Cannady called to her daughter, according to her testimony. Pressly reached weakly with her right arm, moaning.

After calling for an ambulance, Ms. Cannady closed her eyes, lifted her head and prayed. When she opened her eyes, she saw blood on the ceiling.

"That's how horrific ... her attack was. She was beyond recognition," Ms. Cannady told jurors.