Edward Butler had sold the ranch, but he was taking care of the rural Elbert County property while the new owners were away.

On Jan. 23, 2016, Butler noticed an unfamiliar vehicle outside the trailer he kept on the property. Inside the trailer, Joe Robert Love had sat down at a table for a meal and gone through Butler's belongings, authorities say. Butler, who was armed with a handgun, confronted the intruder.

More than three years later, a jury would decide Love's punishment for what happened next.

Love, 28, was found guilty of first-degree murder, among other charges, on March 18. Love had taken Butler's gun from his hip holster, using it to shoot the rancher twice in the head, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office that announced the guilty verdict.

“I hope the community and Mr. Butler’s family can find some measure of closure and solace in knowing that this cold-blooded murderer will spend his remaining days locked up," District Attorney George Brauchler said in the news release. "This is why we build prisons.”

Love fled the scene after shooting Butler, authorities said.

Fingerprints and DNA evidence helped investigators link Love to the crime, and the former soldier was arrested in Fort Bliss, Texas, in January 2017, according to the DA's news release.

Love faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole at his sentencing on June 18.