HOMEWOOD, Calif. — A 47-year-old California man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the 2018 shotgun slaying of his live-in girlfriend on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.
The El Dorado County sheriff's office says Jeremy Virgo of Tahoma is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18 after he was found guilty last week of killing Deborah Patton.
Deputies found her body and her dead dog that also had been shot while responding to reports of gunfire at the home in Tahoma.
Virgo was arrested at the Homewood Ski Resort lodge about 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Tahoe City.
Prosecutors say Virgo told deputies he retrieved his 12-guage shotgun from a closet after he got into an argument with Patton on Feb. 11, 2018. He said she ran for the door, but he shot her multiple times before she could escape.