Vancouver, WA — A former local man was convicted this afternoon of two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 1978 death of a Vancouver woman.

Clark County Superior Court jurors rendered their verdict after the eight-day trial of Michael Allen Hersh. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder of Norma Simerly. One charge alleges a theory of premeditation and the other alleges the murder was committed during a robbery or rape.

Hersh appeared dazed as the verdict was read shortly after 2:30 p.m. He showed no other reaction.

Judge Robert Harris set sentencing for April 19. Prosecutors intend to seek a sentence of life without possibility of release under the state's three-strikes law.

Jurors received the case at lunchtime Wednesday and reached a verdict a day later, after deliberating for more than seven hours. They had to decide whether the DNA evidence recently found on a bloody wash rag left at the crime scene 32 years ago is a reliable link to Hersh.

Hersh's attorney, Jeff Sowder, suggested the DNA may have been contaminated and is not definitive proof of his client's guilt, considering the genetic marker represents 1 percent of Caucasians.

Deputy Prosecutor Tony Golik said these odds clearly point to Hersh. In addition, Golik has argued that other circumstantial evidence points to him: Hersh brutally assaulted another Vancouver woman within weeks of the Simerly homicide in almost an identical manner. He's still serving a prison term in that case.

In the 1980s, Hersh was convicted of assaulting a prison guard.

He most recently was housed at the prison at Clallam Bay, on the Olympic Peninsula, before being transferred to the Clark County Jail for this trial.

A full story will appear in Friday's newspaper.

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