LA Biotech Investor Convicted in Murder-for-Hire Plot of Vermont Partner Who Threatened to Report Him to Authorities Over Fraud

A federal jury has convicted the accused mastermind behind a murder-for-hire plot of all charges brought against him in the 2018 killing in Vermont of a former business partner.

The 12-member jury returned its verdict Friday in federal court in Burlington in the case of Serhat Gumrukcu, finding him guilty of three felony counts: murder for hire, conspiracy to commit murder for hire and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Gumrukcu Stood to Lose Millions if Davis Reported Him to Authorities for Fraud

Gumrukcu, 42, a Los Angeles-based biotech investor of Turkish origin was convicted over the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Gregory Davis of Danville. Prosecutors allege that Gumrukcu was involved in an oil deal with Davis. However, after Gumrukcu missed payments, Davis threatened to report him to law enforcement.

That would, prosecutors said during the trial, potentially jeopardize a much bigger business deal Gumrukcu had been working on with the biomedical company, Enochian BioSciences, in which Gumrukcu stood to gain millions.

Gumrukcu Hired a Colorado Hitman to 'Get Rid' of Davis

The others charged in murder plot who testified against Gumrukcu included Berk Eratay, a fellow Turkish national and magician who later moved to Las Vegas. Eratay described himself on the witness stand as a close friend who worked as a personal assistant to Gumrukcu for several years in the United States.

Eratay said Gumrukcu told him he wanted to "get rid of a problem" and they sought the help of Eratay's former neighbor to recruit his friend and eventual hitman, Jerry Banks, of Fort Garland, Colorado.

Banks Posed as US Marshall to Abduct Davis Before Fatally Shooting Him

Banks testified during the trial that he traveled to Vermont and on a snowy night on Jan. 6, 2018, knocked on the door of Davis' home in Danville, and pretending to be a U.S. marshal, told Davis he was under arrest for racketeering.

Banks told jurors he then handcuffed Davis, put him in a Ford Explorer adorned with law enforcement lights and drove about 10 miles to a roadway pull-off in Barnet. That's where Banks told jurors he shot Davis in the back repeatedly before firing rounds into Davis' head, killing him. Davis' body was found the next day, partially covered in snow.

Gumrukcu faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison when he is formally sentenced, which is expected to take place later this year.