San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  REDWOOD CITY--A pair of Bay Area brothers accused of a drunken shooting rampage in a South San Francisco apartment will likely spend the rest of their lives in prison following a jury's decision Thursday to convict them on charges of murder and pre-meditated attempted murder.

  A Superior Court jury found Brian Hedlin, 28, of San Bruno, and Shawn Hedlin, 32, of Hayward, guilty of all felony charges related to the Jan. 31, 2005 attack, which left one man dead and three people seriously injured, including a woman who suffered a broken back from jumping out a second-story bathroom window to escape the gunfire.

  Prosecutors say the brothers fatally shot Gregorio Chicas, 22, after barging into the Third Avenue apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Jeanette Briones, 17, and another couple: Eduardo Zaparolli, 24, and his 20-year-old girlfriend Nelia Lopez. Zaparolli and Briones were shot in the head but survived. Lopez dodged the gunfire by locking herself in the bathroom and leaping two stories down, breaking her back on impact.

  The three survivors of the early-morning attack testified against the Hedlin brothers during the three-and-a-half-week murder trial.

  Prosecutors argued the Hedlin brothers had intended to kill Zaparolli, who was the primary target of the home invasion, because they believed that he had set up Brian Hedlin to take the fall in a hit-and-run accident two years earlier in San Bruno. Brian Hedlin wound up spending time in the county jail on the hit-and-run charge, prosecutors said.

  According to prosecutors, Shawn Hedlin was the shooter, and his younger brother Brian never fired on the four victims. Under the state's felony murder rule, however, Brian Hedlin was charged with the same murder and attempted murder counts as his brother.

  The defense attorney for Shawn Hedlin argued during the trial that his client had not intended to shoot anyone. Shawn had paid a surprise visit to the apartment with his brother Brian simply to confront Zaparolli. While at the apartment, he began to struggle with Zaparolli's roommate, Gregorio Chicas. During the struggle, Hedlin's gun went off and killed Chicas.

  Meanwhile, the defense attorney for Brian Hedlin argued that his client was unaware that older brother Shawn was even carrying a handgun.

  The jury rejected both arguments, convicting the brothers of murder and several counts each of pre-meditated attempted murder. Shawn Hedlin will face at least 80 years in prison; Brian Hedlin will serve at least 50, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

  The brothers are expected to return to court Tuesday for a hearing on their prior felony offenses and to set a date for sentencing on the attempted murder and murder charges.

E-mail Michael Manekin at mmanekin@bayareanewsgroup.com