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Concluding a three-week trial that exposed the most unsavory side of Arizona鈥檚 militant border vigilante movement, a jury on Monday found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the May 2009 killings of Raul Flores, 29, and his 9-year-old daughter in the border town of Arivaca, Ariz.

The jury deliberated for seven hours over two days before reaching a guilty verdict Monday. On Tuesday morning, after hearing arguments from both sides, they unanimously pronounced Forde eligible for the death penalty. They cited the facts that Forde was motivated by money, participated actively in the robbery, and intended the murders to take place as factors that warrant the ultimate punishment.

It is now up to Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo, who presided over Forde鈥檚 trial, to review all the arguments and evidence and determine whether Forde should be executed or sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutors said Forde, head of the border vigilante group Minuteman American Defense (MAD), and two accomplices 鈥� MAD Operations Director Jason Eugene "Gunny" Bush, 34, and Albert Robert Gaxiola, 42, a local MAD member 鈥� because they thought they would find drugs and cash to fund their group's operation. According to prosecutors, the three broke into the victims鈥� trailer, where Bush shot Flores, his wife, Gina Gonzalez, and their daughter Brisenia. Gonzalez, who survived, managed to return fire with her own gun. 鈥淥h my God,鈥� she can be heard shouting on a 911 tape. 鈥淚 can't believe they killed my family.鈥澛燘ush and Gaxiola will each be tried separately this spring.

Witnesses for the prosecution painted an ugly picture of Forde. Her sister testified that Shawna used to fantasize about robbing drug cartels. (In 2009, Forde鈥檚 half-brother Merrill Metzger told a reporter that during a visit with Forde, 鈥淪he sat right here on my couch and told me that she was going to start an underground militia. This militia was going to start robbing drug cartels, rob them and steal their money or drugs.鈥�) Oin Glenn Oakstar, an Arivaca native and drug dealer who claims to have helped plan the invasion, told the jury that Forde鈥檚 trio had broken the 鈥淎rivaca Rule鈥� that the families of rival drug dealers are off-limits in 鈥渂usiness鈥� killings.

Forde鈥檚 DNA was not found at the crime scene, but it was detected on a piece of jewelry stolen during the invasion. Forde鈥檚 attorney, Eric Larsen, made note of the lack of physical evidence linking his client to the scene of the double murders. He described his client as a harmless blowhard 鈥� 鈥渇ull of sound and fury, signifying nothing,鈥� he said, quoting MacBeth.

The Tucson trial鈥檚 solemnity was marred when Forde supporter , who was barred from entering court before appearing as a witness for the defense, snuck into the courtroom wearing a wig, sunglasses and dark coat. She protested to Leonardo, the judge, that she was a 鈥渃itizen journalist鈥� entitled to cover the story 鈥� before he ejected her.

Days after the trio was arrested in connection with the Arivaca murders, Bush was additionally charged with the 1997 stabbing murder of a Latino man in Wenatchee, Wash., behind a convenience store. Police said that Bush had 鈥渓ongstanding ties鈥� to the neo-Nazi , and Forde's half-brother told a reporter that she was trying to recruit its members to join her in robbing alleged Latino drug-runners.

Forde is a relative newcomer to the vigilante movement. She burst onto the scene in 2006, joining the Washington state chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. As an organizer for the group, she gained a reputation as a manipulative, self-aggrandizing teller of tales about her own bravery. She was voted out in 2007 after attempting to grab power from state leadership.

She started MAD soon afterwards and quickly reestablished herself as a mover and shaker. That summer, she shared a podium at the Everett Elks Lodge with Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist. By 2008, she was the Project鈥檚 border patrol coordinator, and the two worked together closely until her arrest in 2009.

Forde mingled with other border control heavies. Arizona鈥檚 , head of American Border Patrol and , let Forde stay on his property several times, though he contends that he barely interacted with her.

Yet within nativist circles. In late 2008, she made a dubious claim that members of the murderous Latino gang MS-13 had raped and stabbed her in her home. While some rushed to express their outrage at the attack, ALIPAC鈥檚 , already leery of Forde and concerned about the damage an out-of-control border vigilante could do to the nativist movement鈥檚 credibility, put a 鈥渉old鈥� on publicly expressing outrage while waiting for police to say more about the alleged incident. (Investigators eventually dropped the case, citing lack of evidence.) During the next six months, he and his National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition issued 鈥渁dvisories鈥� warning their allies to stay away from Forde.

Not everyone toed the line. On Jan. 18, Rob Sanchez, a writer for , posted an essay on his blog describing Forde as a 鈥減olitical prisoner.鈥� He wrote that Forde could never get a fair trial in Tucson because the city鈥檚 鈥渄eranged open border advocates鈥� want Forde to 鈥渂urn at the stake regardless of innocence or guilt.鈥�

Within days, CAPS, which in 2009 joined Gheen in warning nativists to stay away from Forde, pulled the post and replaced it with a retraction, saying that Sanchez鈥檚 piece had been 鈥渋nsufficiently scrutinized prior to posting鈥� and that 鈥淐APS in no way was taking a position of advocacy for Shawna Forde.鈥�