Jurors on Friday recommended life in prison for the pair convicted in the grisly murders of a Miami couple that inspired the 2013 film "Pain & Gain."
Daniel Lugo and Noel Doorbal were previously sentenced to death in the late 1990s for the killings of Golden Beach couple – Kriztina Furton and Frank Griga – who were injected with horse tranquilizers, murdered, dismembered and put into barrels in 1995.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
>
WATCH HERE
That sentence was thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court and jurors had to decide whether they should receive life in prison or the death sentence again.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
>
SIGN UP
After about 12 hours of deliberation, jurors recommended life in prison for Doorbal. Jurors gave Lugo the same recommendation after about two hours of deliberations.
There were two juries for each defendant. Lugo's jury had already reached a verdict on Thursday, however, the vote was kept confidential until Doorbal's reached a verdict.
"I respect the thoughtful decision-making process that led our 2024 Miami-Dade County juries to decide that Noel Doorbal and Daniel Lugo should no longer receive the death penalty for the 1995 kidnapping and murders of Kristina Furton and Frank Griga," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "I would hope that no one forgets the horrors these victims went through prior to their murders. As State Attorney, I appreciate knowing that these jurors carefully weighed all the evidence and heard all the testimony before coming to their decision."
Local
The pair were part of the misfit crew of muscle men that became known in the '90s as the Sun Gym Gang. The name is taken from the Miami Lakes area gym they used as a home base.
The murders, along with the kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of another man, inspired the 2013 film "Pain & Gain," directed by Michael Bay and starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Lugo, the alleged ringleader, was played by Wahlberg, while Doorbal was played by Anthony Mackie. Johnson's character was based on several Sun Gym Gang members.
