A New London jury deliberated less than two hours Tuesday before finding Ryan C. Wright guilty of killing Jamel Campbell in Groton in 2008.

Wright, 33, looked shocked when the jury foreman announced the guilty verdict in Superior Court. His girlfriend, who had watched the entire trial, nearly collapsed and was still crying when court adjourned several minutes later.

Wright faces 60 years in prison for murder when Judge Arthur C. Hadden sentences him March 30.

The quick verdict was a contrast to Wright's first trial last year when, after several days of deliberations, the jury found Wright guilty of conspiring to murder Campbell but was hung on the murder charge. Wright was sentenced to 20 years on the conspiracy charge and rejected an offer to plead guilty to murder in exchange for a sentence that would keep him in prison an additional 13 years. He opted for a second trial, and attorneys selected a new jury of 12 to hear the case.

The evidence at the second trial was essentially the same as that presented at the first. Campbell had been shot six times at the Ramada Inn in Groton on Dec. 9, 2008. The state contended Campbell was angry that Wright had slept with Campbell's girlfriend while Campbell was incarcerated. Testimony revealed that Campbell and a friend had stolen Wright's "prized possession," a white Mercedes, a month before the murder, and that Wright, seeking revenge, conspired with a mutual friend, Meagan Foley, to lure Campbell to the hotel.

"It was a tragic, senseless act," prosecutor Paul J. Narducci said. He said the jury was attentive throughout the proceedings and that the evidence led them to the proper conclusion.

Campbell's girlfriend, Emily Strother, missed the reading of the verdict but arrived at the courthouse a short time after it was announced. She was pleased with the result but said she was too emotional to speak about it right away. Strother and Campbell, who was 33 when he died, had a son together. Other family members had traveled from New York to watch parts of the trial but were not in court for the verdict.

Wright's attorney, Sebastian O. DeSantis, had stressed the lack of physical evidence in the case and called into question some of the phone records the state used to prove its case.

"I'm disappointed how quick it took the jurors to come back with a guilty verdict on a murder charge, although the jurors did appear to be paying close attention throughout the trial," DeSantis said.

As for Wright, "He's in complete shock," said DeSantis.

Foley is incarcerated on a conspiracy charge and faces up to 20 years in prison in her own case. She is cooperating with the state and has testified at both trials with the hope of getting "consideration" in her own case.

k.florin@theday.com