Ray French was 10 years old in 1976 when his mother, a housekeeper at the Antlers Hilton in Colorado Springs, was discovered in one of the hotel’s laundry rooms bound, raped and choked to death.

On Wednesday, 38 years later, Robert Baillie, 59, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Janet K. Conrad at the El Paso County courthouse.

“I feel relieved, finally getting closure,” French said after the jury’s unanimous verdict was read. “I had to grow up without my mother. He definitely stole something from my childhood.”

Conrad, 38 at the time of her death, was found in an isolated laundry room on the 10th floor of the hotel. She was naked from the waist down, her hands tied behind her back with a vacuum cleaner cord and her mouth gagged with a washcloth.

During closing statements, prosecuting attorney Jennifer Viehman argued that DNA samples recovered from the victim’s fingernails, the underside of her shirt and her pubic area matched Baillie’s DNA profile.

“This is not speculation; this is DNA in three different places on the victim’s body that match the defendant’s profile,” Viehman told the jury. “For 38 years, Janet Conrad’s voice has been silenced. Today she can be heard loud and clear.”

Baillie’s attorney, Dennis L. McGuire, said the details of how Conrad was murdered were not in dispute. But he said the evidence did not show beyond a reasonable doubt that his client committed the crime.

McGuire said the prosecution’s case was “incomplete” and had “only two-thirds of the evidence.”

Jessica Lott, 36, had not seen or heard from Baillie, her uncle, for nearly 30 years but said she felt compelled to follow his case and be at the courthouse Wednesday to support him.

“My uncle’s been in prison most of my life, and he hasn’t had any visitors in decades, but I just don’t think anyone should be alone,” Lott said. “If he should be behind bars, then he is where he should be. I am not one to judge. I just want him to know he is loved.”

Baillie will be sentenced by 4th Judicial District Judge Timothy J. Schutz on Sept. 12.

French said his mother’s murder shaped his whole life, even inspiring him to study criminal justice to try to “solve the mystery” of who had killed her. With Baillie’s conviction, French, who lives in Tulsa, Okla., and will stay in Colorado Springs through Baillie’s sentencing, said he believes in forgiveness and moving forward.

“It’s hard to explain, but I really believe what the Bible says about love and not holding onto grudges,” French said. “Now it’s time to move on from this, one step at a time.”

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Robert Baillie. Photo via KKTV.