Green Bay man convicted of attempted homicide, robbery By Jessica La Plante News-Chronicle Given two explanations of why a Green Bay man was stabbed and beaten during a supposed drug deal gone bad, a Brown County jury took only a half-hour to decide which version to believe. After listening to two days of testimony, a Brown County jury found 21-year-old Wayne Cornelius guilty of one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of attempted armed robbery. According to a criminal complaint, Cornelius tried to rob and kill a pair of Bellevue brothers at their apartment building during the early morning hours of Oct. 15 under the guise of a drug deal. Prosecutors said Cornelius was only tackled and beaten up by the victims after he pointed at them a gun that failed to fire. "Why (else) would a person jump someone in their own apartment and then all of the sudden say 'call 911, get the cops?'" asked Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski. "But for the fact that the bullet hadn't worked it's way into the chamber, that gun would have fired and the (brothers) would have been dead." But Cornelius testified Tuesday that he did not bring a gun into the apartment and said it was the victims who tried to rob and kill him. Cornelius claimed he had second thoughts about the deal and tried to leave when the brothers pounced on him and beat him. Defense attorney Mark Rosen said the injuries Cornelius sustained proved his credibility. Rosen showed the jury a photo of a circular bruise on Cornelius' body where he suggested the brothers had pressed the handgun to his client's head. "That gun was pressed against him," Rosen said. "That's not self-defense. They controlled that gun at all times." Cornelius said he couldn't have brought a gun because his jacket did not have pockets. Calling the defendant's testimony "ludicrous," Zakowski asked an evidence technician to testify as a rebuttal witness. The jury watched as Sgt. Todd Zehms pulled out the tattered maroon jacket hospital workers cut off Cornelius after the fight. Contrary to the defendant's claims, the coat had multiple pockets both inside and outside the jacket. Zakowski closed the trial with a demonstration of how the 9-mm handgun easily could have been concealed inside the jacket and pulled out during the robbery. "The biggest lie and most important lie is how the gun got into that apartment," Zakowski said. "That's the reason (Cornelius) is guilty as charged. He denied ever bringing that gun into the apartment." Cornelius will return for a sentencing hearing on Dec. 12. The defendant's cousin, 21-year-old Daniel Webster of Minneapolis, is scheduled to stand trial in November as a conspirator to attempted robbery and attempted homicide.