A former Alameda supermarket employee was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday for killing his best friend and another man because he didn't want to repay gambling debts.

The jury also convicted Andrew Toon Wong, 24, of the special circumstance of multiple murder, meaning he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Nov. 30.

Jurors found that Wong shot and killed cookie deliveryman David Wells, 62, of Oakdale (Stanislaus County), in July 2008 and his best friend, Quang "John" Quach, 36, in April 2009. Both men were shot in the head.

As part of his route, Wells delivered cookies to the Safeway store in Alameda where both Wong and Quach worked. Wells was found dead inside his delivery van at a parking lot outside the north end of Oakland International Airport.

At the time, Wong was the assistant night manager at the Safeway store at Alameda Town Centre, where Quach worked the overnight shift as a stocker in the frozen-foods section. Co-workers described them as best friends.

Nine months after Wells was killed, Quach's wife found her husband shot dead in their home on Foothill Boulevard in Oakland's Eastlake neighborhood.

Wong owed both men money from gambling and decided to kill them instead of repaying the debt, prosecutors said.

Last week, Wong's attorney, Tim Pori, was cleared of contempt charges by a state appeals court. Superior Court Judge Carrie Panetta had sentenced Pori to five days in jail and ordered him to pay $2,500 on the grounds that he had been unprepared for the double-murder trial.
