Fresno County jury reaches verdict in Woodward Lake double homicide

In less than four hours, a Fresno jury Tuesday found Gary Perry, 26, guilty of the first degree murder of two friends he shot to death following a 2017 drug deal in northeast Fresno.

Perry was also convicted of the attempted murder of a third man. But jurors didn’t agree with prosecutor Deborah Miller’s contention that the shootings were done for financial gain.

The slaying of Scott Alex Gaffney, 21, and Brennen Julian Fairhead, 21, took place on Dec. 14, 2017 in an upscale Woodward Lake neighborhood.

Gaffney and Fairhead were shot in the 10000 block of Grouse Run. The jury determined Perry also fired shots from a Glock pistol at Michael Rackney, but missed, as Rackney ran for cover to a friend’s house.

Judge Brian Alvarez scheduled sentencing for Perry on June 9 in Department 50 of the court.

Defense attorney Emily Takao failed to convince jurors that Perry, who shot Fairhead multiple times, did so by mistake and that the weapon fired repeatedly due to a malfunction.

Prosecutors said that on the night of the slayings, Perry, Gaffney, Fairhead and Rackney drove to a neighborhood near Fresno State and bought drugs.

The shootings took place when the four drove back to the Woodward Lake area. Perry told detectives that he shot Fairhead by mistake and killed Gaffney because he was a witness to the crime.