Updated

A man was convicted Wednesday in Washington state of the 1987 slayings of five men and the wounding of a sixth in a body shop, in what a prosecutor called "the most heinous" crime in Franklin County's history.

A Spokane jury found 46-year-old Vicente Ruiz guilty of five counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

He faces a life sentence for going into Medina's Body Shop in Pasco with his cousin on Oct. 13, 1987, and opening fire on six men.

His lawyers called it a case of mistaken identity and said the verdict will be appealed.

Ruiz fled after the shootings and was not arrested until 2006 in Mexico. He was extradited in June 2007.

His cousin was convicted in 1994 and is serving life in prison.