SANTA CRUZ >> John Burke may have had Neoklis Koumides’ blood on his shoe and he may have had motive — a “monetary grudge,” his defense attorney said, but the case had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The issue is not whether he was there,” attorney Art Dudley told jurors during his client’s murder trial closing arguments. “The issue is who was the perpetrator, the actual perpetrator.”

Dudley offered no theory as to the identity of an alternate killer and the jury ultimately disagreed with his argument.

Within a couple of hours of retiring to deliberate the case of the 65-year-old Burke’s guilt or innocence, the 12-member jury returned with a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder, along with a conviction on a special allegation involving use of a deadly weapon.

Staring intently at the court clerk as she read the verdict, Burke let out a hiss and shook his head back and forth at “guilty.” After each juror was polled individually to confirm their agreement, Burke let out a long exhale.

Before jurors began to deliberate Burke’s case Friday morning, Dudley had highlighted earlier testimony of two prosecution witnesses. Both men had testified they were present Nov. 21 at the Church-Cedar streets parking garage when Koumides, known to friends as “Nick the Greek,” was fatally stabbed through the heart shortly before 5 a.m.

Witnesses Javier Horvath and Casey Steen, Dudley said, variously described the man who entered the first floor of the double-decker garage where Koumides and others were huddled around a fire. They said he was from 6-foot-4-inches to 6-foot-6-inches tall, between 220 and 240 pounds and was an estimated 30-48 years old.

Burke, according to Santa Cruz County Jail logs, was 64 years old, 155 pounds and 6 feet tall at the time of his arrest.

Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Michael McKinney, who prosecuted the case, responded to Dudley’s closing by telling jurors that witnesses sometimes get details wrong, but that jurors had extensive surveillance video evidence to assist with the specifics. The two witnesses variously described a killer wearing a red or orange hat, a trenchcoat, the direction he arrived and left from, the large kitchen knife used and his white shoes, all details McKinney had tied back to Burke during the trial.

“There is no reasonable doubt in the case,” McKinney said. “Sometimes cases are just that clear. Just because we’re here doesn’t mean there’s an issue.”

Outside the courtroom Friday afternoon, McKinney said his next step was to contact Koumides’ family with news of the verdict.

“I think they’re still grappling with trying to understand why this happened and why their son and brother are no longer here,” McKinney said. “I’m hoping this will give them some sense of closure and some sense of justice that hopefully another family won’t have to go through this again from Mr. Burke.”

A second portion of the case, determining whether Burke’s past criminal convictions will enhance the sentencing he faces in the murder trial, will take place Thursday afternoon before Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled afterward.