Man Convicted In Murder Of Girlfriend's Father

A Seminole County jury unanimously found 23-year-old Michael Morin guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Steven Schulhoff. They also found the defendant guilty of burglary with battery.

Morin's attorneys are already preparing for the penalty phase of the case. With Wednesday's verdict comes the possibility that Morin could be sentenced to death.

Morin appeared uneasy in the moments before the jury's verdict was read and prosecutors have made it clear they will seek the death penalty in the 2004 murder of Steven Schulhoff.

Morin's defense team wanted jurors to believe it was Schuloff's daughter, Courtney, who bludgeoned her father to death with a baseball bat. She's already serving a life sentence in connection to her dad's murder.

But jurors had to weigh Courtney's testimony for her former boyfriend against two taped confessions Morin made saying he committed the murder. Jurors obviously believed the latter, to the relief of those who loved Steven Schulhoff.

"Anybody who knows, my brother has the keys to heaven. That's all I have to say," said Jennifer Schulhoff.

The hardest part of the Morin's trial for Schulhoff's sister was the characterization that her brother was abusive. She and Elaine Bouck, Steven Schulhoff's girlfriend at the time of his murder, said nothing could be further from the truth.

For Bouck and Jennifer Schulhoff, on some level, justice has been served, but the rift between an aunt and her niece may take much longer to heal, if ever.

There is a hearing scheduled Thursday and the tentative date to begin the penalty phase of the case is May 14th. Until then, jurors aren't allowed to discuss the case or even listen to coverage of the case.