Metro

Jury takes 17 minutes to convict former limo owner of killing baby mama

It took a Manhattan jury only a lightning-fast 17 minutes yesterday to convict a former limo owner from Orlando, Fla. of shooting his baby mama dead as she slept in her Jefferson Houses bedroom in 2009.

Edward Demirdjian, 57, slaughtered pretty Sherra Morgenstern so he could keep custody of their toddler daughter and cash in on a $250,000 insurance policy, lead prosecutor Shanda Strain had argued.

The stately, white-haired murderer had gone to trial despite the steep hill of evidence against him, including cell phone tower records showing he had travelled up the East Coast from Florida on the day of the murder.

Two shell casings recovered from the hair of her decomposing corpse matched Demirdjian’s gun perfectly, according to testimony.

Then there was the victim’s close friend, who took the stand to recount to jurors how Demirdjian once told her, “Before she ever gets the baby back, she’ll be dead — I’ll kill her.”

Demirdjian faces a maximum of 25 to life when he is sentenced on April 23 by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon.