RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Defense attorneys for a recently convicted killer told a Wake County jury that they must now decide what form his death will be.

The jurors deliberated for about three hours before reaching a unanimous verdict Wednesday, finding Seaga Gillard guilty of the December 2016 murders of April Lynn Holland and Dwayne Garvey.

The double homicide qualified Gillard’s crimes as a capital case, and Wake County prosecutors are seeking capital punishment.

Assistant district attorneys Kathryn Pomeroy and David Saacks declined to make opening statements when the penalty phase of the trial began Monday morning.

Defense attorney Jonathan Broun addressed the jury for several minutes.

“You will decide how he will die,” Broun said.

“The first phase was about whether he was guilty. You have guaranteed he will be punished. It will be severe, and it will be permanent. You will decide what form his punishment will take, whether that be death or spending the rest of his life in prison.”

Broun told the jurors that they need to know more about Gillard’s past before they decide his future. He said they will hear testimony from Gillard’s family and friends in his homeland of St. Lucia, a Caribbean island.

Due to the distance, their statements have been recorded and will be presented on a video screen Wednesday and Thursday.

The defense attorneys said jurors will hear about a difficult and troubled childhood in poverty.

Broun said Gillard wanted to be an altar boy but could not afford the clothing, and was also once sent home from school for violating dress code because he did not have any socks to wear.

“When you hear about his life, we are not offering it as an excuse, justification, or defense of his actions,” Broun said. “But it will show that life in prison is an appropriate punishment.”

Prosecutors called eight witnesses Monday. Four were women who said they first came into contact with Gillard through online posts advertising sex work for money. The other four are police officers who corroborated the stories from the women.

All of the women said Gillard made agreements to meet them alone at cheap motels, but showed up with another man tow. Several identified the other person as Brandon Hill, who is also accused of killing Holland and Garvey.

The women said Gillard and his accomplice used cords from the motel room telephone to bind their arms and legs. Some were sexually assaulted.

“He put a gun inside my vagina,” the first victim said. “He was whirling it around inside me.”

She said her attackers told her to lie face down with her face in a pillowcase.

“I thought we weren’t going to make it because they were super aggressive. I was like ‘Lord, just save me, save us,’ because these people are a different type of robbers, they don’t just come to rob, they come to hurt too,” she said.

“I was thinking ‘they’re sick, you’re sick, you’re going overboard, y’all came here to do what you had to do but you are taking it to the extreme’.”

Another victim said the phone cord left marks on her skin. The woman accused Gillard of stealing her pocketbook.

She said it had her whole life inside, including her social security card, birth certificate, and driver’s license.

Her assault and robbery took place October 28, 2016, five weeks before the shootings of Holland and Garvey. The woman saw her belongings for the first time in more than two years on Monday, when prosecutors unsealed the evidence folder which contained them.

Investigators recovered the cards on December 4, 2016, when they caught and arrested Brandon Hill.

Defense attorneys said the evidence was in Hill’s car. Prosecutors redirected the attention to Gillard while questioning Kara Lambe, the fourth and final female victim to testify during the Monday session.

Lambe testified during the first week of the trial that Gillard pointed his gun, nicknamed “Lemon Squeeze,” at her teeth and said: “If you don’t love me your blood will be all over these walls.”

The judge told Lambe during the guilt phase that she was not allowed to talk about being forced into prostitution. She was allowed to talk about this during the penalty phase.

On Monday she told jurors that Gillard told her to have sex with other men for money, which he took.

“How many times did he put a gun to your face,” assistant district attorney Pomeroy asked Monday.

“Just once,” Lambe said.

“Did he point a gun at you or show you the gun before,” Pomeroy asked.

“Yes ma’am,” Lambe said.

“Did he tell you what would happen if you didn’t do what he was telling you to do?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“What was that?”

“He was going to kill me,” Lambe said.

“Did B (Brandon Hill) ever put a gun to your face?”

“No ma’am.”

“Did he ever make you show him your teeth and tell you that he was going to splatter your brains all over the room?”

“No ma’am.”

“The only person that ever did that was this defendant,” Pomeroy said as she pointed at Gillard.

“Yes ma’am,” Lambe said.

The final encounter between Lambe and Gillard was in late November 2016, less than two weeks before the murders.

Gillard’s victims’ families are on the witness list for Tuesday. Jurors will see defense witnesses on Wednesday and Thursday in an effort to convince the jury to issue a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

Deliberations and a decision will likely take place Friday.