Adrian Loya is led to a prisoner transport van after his conviction on first degree murder in Barnstable Superior Court
BOSTON – The first-degree murder conviction of Adrian Loya has been upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a request for a new trial has been denied.
A Barnstable Superior Court jury found Loya guilty of first-degree murder in 2017 in the shooting death of Lisa Trubnikova in 2015.
He was also found guilty of aggravated assault and battery, armed home invasion and assault and battery on a police officer.
The murder conviction comes with an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Two other people were shot and survived.
Loya forced his way into a Monument Beach condo and shot and killed Trubnikova, and then shot and seriously injured her wife Anna.
He then hid in the woods and shot Bourne Police Officer Jared MacDonald in the spine.
The SJC also affirmed the convictions from shooting Anna and MacDonald and affirmed the multiple assault and firearms convictions stemming from the incident.
Loya’s appeal argued that a new trial was required because the trial judge committed reversible error by denying motions for proposed jury instructions and a proposed verdict slip.
The defendant requested the jury answer in a series of yes or no questions, in addition to a general verdict of “guilty,” “not guilty,” or “not guilty, lack of criminal responsibility.”
There was also a request for the jury to consider a verdict of “guilty, but not criminally responsible” rather than “not guilty, lack of criminal responsibility.”
The SJC rejected all of Loya’s challenges in its 21-page decision and found that the defendant advocated for a departure from current law regarding the defense of a lack of criminal responsibility.
The court found that Loya’s proposed changes would create unnecessary confusion and declined to adopt the recommended changes. It also found no error in the trial judge’s decision to deny the motions.
“I remember well the courage of Anna Trubnikova during the trial and I am confident from my conversations with her that she will not let this terrible episode define her life,” said Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe. “I wish her the very best.”
O’Keefe also commended the prosecution team of Brian Glenny, Mike Donovan and Elizabeth Sweeney and thanked them for their hard work on the case.
The SJC decision comes a day after the five year anniversary of the incident.
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