Villarreal found guilty of murder in shooting death of his father

GRAND FORKS — A jury on Thursday, Oct. 15, found Vincent Villareal guilty of murder in the Dec. 4, 2020, shooting death of his father, Jeffrey Allen Shulzitski, at a Budget Inn Express. Villarreal, 34, was convicted of Class AA felony murder with extreme indifference, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The defense focused on creating reasonable doubt within the jury to prevent conviction. The defense opened and rested its case Wednesday without calling any witnesses. Defense attorney Ward Johnson pointed out an unidentified individual in the Budget Inn surveillance footage that he thought could be a person of interest. It was a man in a hoodie who Johnson thought had a gun in his pocket, but officers who were called as witnesses disagreed. So, instead, the defense tried to discredit pieces of the state s case. It highlighted the age of the case and lifestyles of people connected to it. Witnesses were asked to recall details from nearly six years ago