A touch of a palm. A slip of the tongue. A grainy surveillance video. A gang member willing to roll, and rob, with his older gang members.
All of that led to a grim sight Friday: a long walk by a young man into a lifetime of incarceration.
Moments after a jury found teenager Juan Castaneda guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, sheriff's deputies had Castaneda kneel on a courtroom chair.
They ratcheted leg irons around his ankles, handcuffs behind his back and led him away to prison where he will spend the rest of his life for the robbery spree that left Luis Fernando-Silva, 22, and Tari Glinsmann, 27, dead and Charles Denton, 21, wounded.
Castaneda's eyes swam as he was led away. In the words of a sheriff's deputy, he looked pale a far cry from the wide-eyed teen who watched the trial unfold.
Those involved in the case from the victims' families to prosecutors Don Kleine and Brenda Beadle said they wished other young gang members could see that perp walk, could see the dead-end ahead for what Kleine called “the little gangster life.”
In December, Castaneda 15 at the time of the crimes, 17 now will be sentenced to life in prison.
“Lives destroyed,” Kleine said. “All the way around.”
The verdict capped an intense three-week trial that replayed a furious 33-minute spree through South Omaha and two parts of Dundee on Nov. 12, 2008.
A jury convicted Castaneda of felony murder under a law that holds accomplices accountable if someone is killed during a robbery. Castaneda wasn't the shooter, but he pulled the victims from their cars and left them for dead.
He left something else behind: two palm prints on the hood of victim Tari Glinsmann's car. Three fingerprint analysts identified the prints as his.
Tari's father, Eugene Glinsmann, sat stoically throughout the trial that detailed the prints and the crimes, the surveillance video of his daughter's last moments alive, even the autopsy photos.
Then court clerk John Friend read the first verdict form Friday.
“We, the jury ... do find the said defendant guilty on Count 1, felony murder, Tari Glinsmann ... ”
Eugene Glinsmann let out a muffled groan. Tears overcame him.
Later, he said he couldn't help but think back to the night before his daughter's murder. How his “baby girl” had sent a text, asking him to bring over some fast food to her workplace, the Infinite Oil gas station near 52nd and Leavenworth Streets. How, when he arrived, she bounded out of the station, excited about his “new” used truck.
How she hopped into the driver's seat and jostled the steering wheel like a child pretending to drive.
The next night, she would walk out of the same gas station to be confronted by two robbers one who shot her in the head.
In addition to her dad, Tari Glinsmann left behind partner Pegge Matthews, sister Patti Glinsmann, nieces and nephews.
Eugene Glinsmann said the good memories of their time together flooded him when the verdict was read.
“I was so happy at that point in time, so overcome,” Glinsmann said. “It's been a long time coming. It just hit me.”
It hit Fernando-Silva's family as well.
His aunt Lupe Fernando-Silva and cousin Jose Hernandez had recalled how they had looked out the window of their home at 15th and Vinton Streets that November night.
Hernandez saw his cousin sitting in his Blazer, texting his girlfriend after a long day of work at Kona Grill.
Next thing Hernandez knew, there was furious honking. He looked out to see his cousin sprawled on the ground. Robbers had shot him and stolen his wallet.
Lupe raced to her nephew's side, wrapping him in a blanket. She smeared rubbing alcohol beneath his nose, begging him to hang on.
He died in her arms.
When county attorney's investigator Rod James called Lupe with the verdict Friday, she clammed up.
“There was a long silence,” James said. “She was taking a moment to grieve.”
In addition to his aunt and cousin, Fernando-Silva left behind girlfriend Maria Sanchez and a 2-year-old son, born just before his death.
When he wasn't working two jobs, Fernando-Silva liked to go shopping at the mall and out to eat with family.
“He was a good man,” Hernandez said. “He didn't deserve this. We didn't know why this would happen to him.”
Kleine said it's equally difficult to comprehend how Denton and his girlfriend, Hilary Nelsen, survived the shooting and attempted robbery at an ATM at 50th and Underwood.
As Denton gunned his car to get away, a bullet shattered his minivan window, passed through his biceps and grazed his chest.
“He's a very, very lucky young man,” Kleine said.
One juror, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the jury of five men and seven women examined each of the three crime scenes and worked backward to reach the guilty verdicts.
Among the 240 exhibits, jurors looked at four critical pieces of evidence:
The palm prints: One was about the size of a lemon wedge; the other the size of a quarter, on the hood of Glinsmann's car. Three fingerprint analysts said the prints matched Castaneda. “His flesh on the victim's car,” was how Beadle described it.
The slip of the tongue: When he arrived at the Douglas County Youth Center, Castaneda refused to talk about the case with fellow former gang member Jacob Shantz. However, he made a telling comment to Shantz about that Nov. 12, 2008, night: “If anyone asks,” he said, “tell 'em I was at home.”
The video: The grainy video of Glinsmann from the Infinite Oil gas station where she worked didn't show her death. However, it showed two robbers one with a gun and one who was taller hovering near Glinsmann's car. Prosecutors said the video was telling because it put the taller accomplice, Castaneda, near the car where his prints would be found.
The older gang members: Edgar Cervantes, 18 at the time, testified that he had the gun, the car and the robbery plan. Another former gang member placed Castaneda in the car about the time the spree started. And Cervantes placed himself, Eric “Scrappy” Ramirez and Castaneda in the car throughout the spree.
The juror said some of the jurors struggled with Cervantes' credibility and with how much weight to give his testimony. Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley had grilled Cervantes.
But the juror said he walked out of the courthouse confident in his verdict.
“It was very, very, emotional for the entire jury,” the juror said.
Next up: Ramirez, the alleged shooter. He has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection begins Tuesday.
As he left the courthouse, Eugene Glinsmann said he plans to see Ramirez's case through, too.
“We're only halfway there,” Glinsmann said. “I'm going to be there for my daughter and Luis and Charles.
“None of them deserved what they got that night.”
World-Herald staff writers Leia Mendoza and John Ferak contributed to this report.
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