The man charged with the first-degree murder of a Dartmouth cab driver has been found guilty. The jury began deliberations on Wednesday and within one day, returned with a verdict convicting Chaze Lamar Thompson, 22, of first-degree murder in the killing of Sergei Kostin, 41.

Kostin, a native of Ukraine, went missing in January 2009 after picking up two young black men at a Gaston Rd. store. His burned out cab was found a few days later in North Preston. Kostin’s body was found that April on Upper Governors Road in North Preston.  

Wayne McAvoy was arrested that day in April, under suspicion of being involved in the killing, but he was eventually granted immunity in exchange for his testimony against Thompson, who is his cousin.

A conviction on a charge of first-degree murder comes with an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.