Medford, NY - June 16, 2016 - A Suffolk County jury has convicted Dante Taylor of Mastic first and second degree murder and attempted rape in the first degree for the murder of Sarah Goode, 21, of Medford on June 7, 2014, District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

The jury found Taylor of all counts in the indictment and returned its guilty verdict this afternoon. Deliberations began late Tuesday (7/14) afternoon.

The trial started May 11. During the trial, a forensic scientist from the Suffolk Crime Laboratory testified that semen and other material taken from the victim’s body during an autopsy matched Taylor’s DNA.

The victim, a medical technician, went missing after attending a party. Police found her body five days later in the woods in Medford off Camden Court.   She had been stabbed 42 times.

Justice John Collins scheduled sentencing for Taylor on July 29. The defendant faces a maximum of life imprisonment without parole for the first degree murder conviction.