Guilty verdict in murder of two local men Sentencing scheduled for August BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer JEFF GRANIT staff Michael E. Ross II (r), 25, shown speaking with his lawyer, John Koufos, was found guilty April 29 on two counts of firstdegree murder in the shooting deaths of Sergey Barbashov, 21, Edison, and Aleksy Bautin, 26, Avenel, as they sat in Barbashov's Volkswagen at the Forest View Apartments in Avenel in 2003. NEWBRUNSWICK- After approximately 25 hours of deliberations, a six-man, six-woman jury foundMichael E. Ross II, 25, guilty last week on two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Sergey Barbashov, 21, Edison, and Aleksy Bautin, 26, Avenel, as they sat in Barbashov's red 1999 Volkswagen in front of Building 12 of the Forest ViewApartments in Avenel in 2003. Ross, formerly of ChestnutAvenue inAvenel, could face life in prison with a minimum of 60 years - 30 years for each murder - to be served. His bail of $1.55 million was revoked after the verdict was read. The 25-year-old, in a gray suit, who sat quietly with his hands folded throughout the three-week trial, showed little emotion when the jury read the verdict on each of the five counts against himonApril 29, while his father,Michael E. Ross Sr., 63, put his head down, and his sister Rasheena Ross, 24, wiped away tears. Ross, known as "Sixty," was also found guilty of one second degree count of possession of a weapon (a 9 mm Taurus) for an unlawful purpose, one third-degree count of unlawful possession of a weapon, and one count of hindering his own apprehension (for disposing of the weapon). Ross was arrested and charged on Sept. 11, 2006, in connection with the deaths of Barbashov and Bautin. On Oct. 31, 2006, he was indicted by aMiddlesex County grand jury on the charges. Before Ross was led out of the courtroom, he smiled back at his father and sister. Throughout the trial, Ross' family and friends sat quietly in support of Ross, including his young daughter. Bautin's brother Aleksandr Bautin and Barbashov's then-girlfriend Ekaterina Vovolatskaya testified during the trial. Bautin's parents attended one day of the trial. "I knew that they [the jury] were working very, very hard," said Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Julie Davidson. The jury started their deliberations on April 16; however, four days (approximately 20 hours) into their deliberations, a juror was relieved of her duties because she became ill. An alternate juror was chosen to fill her seat, and state Superior Court Judge James Mulvihill, sitting in New Brunswick, asked the jury to begin their deliberations from the beginning on April 23. "When the judge instructed themto destroy paperwork after they had to start deliberations again, they did," said Davidson. "I just knewthey were taking their time and considering everything." Davidson added that the Barbashov and Bautin families as Russian immigrants had the opportunity to see how the American system works. Police were dispatched to Yardley Avenue inside the Forest View Apartment complex at 10:58 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2003, after a resident called police about gunshots in the area, according to police reports. Bautin, who came to the United States in 1996, worked full time for TheatreMania inNewYork City.At night he attended classes at Rutgers University, Newark, where he wasworking toward a computer science degree.Hewas pronounced dead at the scene, only a fewhundred feet fromhis parents' third-floor apartment. Barbashov, ofMeadowbrook Road in Edison, died at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, several hours later, on Oct. 31, 2003. He was employed by Olger Motors in Bridgeton. On April 15, Ross took the stand in his own defense, denying that hewas at the Forest ViewApartment complex when Barbashov and Bautin were fatally shot. He also denied that he confessed to the shootings to his then-girlfriend, Sharhi Roberts, and his friend GregWakefield. During the trial, Roberts testified that Ross had confessed to the shootings on two occasions, and she also testified that during a heated argument Ross had told her he had made it [the shootings] up. However, during Roberts' two sworn statements to police, she did not mention the heated argument. In sworn police statements, Wakefield said that on the night of the murders, Ross told him he was just "popping off" in Forest View,which he said he understood as shooting. Both Roberts andWakefield testified that Ross had told them that he shot Barbashov and Bautin by mistake and he intended to shoot "Mitch" and "B" in relation to a car accident that occurred on Oct. 1, 2003. During the trial, Wakefield testified that he lied in his two sworn statementswith police because of themental torture he received during hours of interrogation with police. Jamil McKnight, the only eyewitness to the shootings, testified that he and Ross were the only ones at the Forest View Apartment complex and that Ross was the one who pulled the trigger of the 9mmTaurus handgun, killing Barbashov and Bautin.McKnight had testified that Ross owned the handgun and Ross had put it under his (McKnight's) bed just a week before the shootings. McKnight testified that he had helped dispose of the handgun with Ross in the dirt hills behind his Morrissey Avenue home in Avenel after the shootings and then later retrieved the handgun. He testified that he had a friend help dispose of it in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. Police never recovered the handgun. For his three truthful sworn statements with police, McKnight received pretrial intervention, which he understood would erase his criminal record for his involvement with the crime. Through testimony, the jury learned that Sherrill Williams, a friend ofMcKnight and Ross, and Ronald Huff, an acquaintance ofMcKnight,werewith Ross andWilliams the night of the murders. JohnKoufos, defense attorney for Ross, questionedMcKnight about why his friend Sherrill Williams, in a sworn statementwith police, said that the 9mmTauruswasMcKnight's gun and that it had been under his bed for eight months. "I don't know," answered McKnight. Koufos said an appeal is in the works. "I stand firmly with my personal belief that Sherrill Williams and Jamil McKnight should have been in [Ross'] chair…whether it's under my watch or another attorney's watch, [the truth] will be found," he said. Koufos, who spoke to Ross after the verdict was read, said Ross had taken the guilty verdict better than he (Koufos) and Ross' father and his sister did. "He said, 'John, I didn't do this. If I have to wait two years to flush this out, I'll wait,' " said Koufos, who added that Ross has asserted his innocence from the first day he met him. Ross' father, sister and friend were also charged with witness tampering after Ross had been charged with the two murders in 2006. Michael E. Ross Sr. and Rasheena Ross, of ChestnutAvenue in Avenel, were charged with third-degree witness tampering; however, the grand jury did not indict them on the charges. Nicholas Simeon, 21, of Avenel, was charged with second degree witness tampering; however, his case ended in acquittal last year. Ross is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14.