A former truck driver imprisoned for the 2007 assault of a Northwest D.C. strip club manager was convicted of murder Friday in that man’s death.
Vasile Graure, 41, was already serving a 30-year sentence after he was convicted in 2009 of assault with intent to kill in the incident at the Good Guys club. Graure set a fire that left Vladimir Djordjevic, 28, with second- and third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body.
Two years after the fire, Djordjevic died from his injuries. Prosecutors then charged Graure with felony murder while armed. On Friday, a D.C. Superior Court jury found him guilty after four hours of deliberations.
For five days, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Martin and Kacie Weston argued that Graure became infuriated on Nov. 3, 2007, after he was kicked out of the club at 2311 Wisconsin Ave. NW for taking pictures of one of the dancers with his cellphone.
Prosecutors said that Graure went to a gas station, filled a container with gas, returned to the club and confronted Djordjevic. After a struggle, Graure poured gasoline over the front of the club and Djordjevic and lit the gas on fire.
During the trial, Graure represented himself and tried to prove he was heavily intoxicated and didn’t intend to kill anyone.
Graure is scheduled to be sentenced March 23 by Judge Thomas J. Motley. He faces an additional 30 years to life in prison.