Jury convicts man of murdering Deer Park resident

A jury Thursday convicted Richard F. Klepacki of murdering Deer Park resident Harry “Ed” Giesbrecht in 2014.

Klepacki, 63, faces a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison.

“Justice was done,” said prosecuting attorney Mark Lindsey. “That’s all we were ever seeking was justice.”

Klepacki’s accomplice, Anthony J. Tudor II, was found guilty of murder in June and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The two men pounded on Giesbrecht’s apartment door in January 2014 and shot Giesbrecht in the face at point-blank range when he opened the door. A witness said the two men never said a word to Giesbrecht.

An acquaintance of Tudor’s told police that Tudor had claimed that Giesbrecht owed him money, according to court documents. Klepacki was arrested immediately after the shooting when police found him hiding nearby. Tudor was arrested several months later and at the time police said they believed Tudor was the one who pulled the trigger.

Two weeks after the shooting an elementary school boy found a gun alongside the road in Deer Park and brought it to his bus stop. The gun was cocked and loaded. The .45 caliber handgun was determined to be the weapon used to shoot Giesbrecht.

The jury took only a few hours to deliberate Thursday before announcing they had reached a verdict. The trial lasted nearly two weeks.