An Army panel found Spc. Jamaal A. Lewis guilty as charged Wednesday in the Labor Day 2005 slayings of a man and a woman outside the Schooner Pub in Lakewood.

After listening to testimony over 10 days, the panel deliberated about six hours before returning the verdict: guilty of felony murder and guilty of attempted robbery.

Now the court-martial moves to a penalty phase, in which prosecutors hope to persuade the same seven panelists to send the 22-year-old soldier to prison for the rest of his life, without possibility of parole.

The Fort Lewis commander, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, originally ordered that Lewis face the death penalty if convicted, but changed his mind.

Army prosecutors contended Lewis meant to rob Pfc. Jason Jowers, 26, and Crystal Hurley-McDowell, 23, but shot them to death instead as they sat in her car in the tavern parking lot, at 5429 100th St. S.W.

A tip led Lakewood police and Army investigators to Lewis, and they arrested him two days after the killings.

The government's case centered on the testimony of two soldiers and a third man. All three claimed that Lewis told them in graphic detail how he'd done the shootings.

Two of the men said they helped Lewis throw away pieces of his gun into Puget Sound. Divers later recovered them off Solo Point.

Lewis' defense attorney, Maj. John Hyatt, aggressively attacked the witnesses' credibility and suggested that one of them might be the real killer.

The two soldiers - Pvt. Joseaf U. Griessett, 22, and Pfc. Kevin Lambers, 21 - pleaded guilty to being accessories after the fact and lying to investigators. They received reduced prison terms for their agreement to testify against Lewis - Griessett 18 months and Lambers 61/2 years.

The third man, a civilian from Lakewood, Ronald "Rusty" Brown, testified under a grant of immunity from prosecution.

Hyatt contended that police failed to investigate other potential suspects once their tipster gave them Lewis. They found no blood on Lewis' clothing or other physical evidence connecting him to the shootings.

"Caution," Hyatt urged the panelists in his closing argument. "You're being deceived."

But the prosecutors argued Lewis bought a 9 mm pistol when he was serving in Afghanistan, and following his return told his friend Griessett he was intent on using it to shoot people.

Maj. Martin White, the lead prosecutor, acknowledged to the panel that the three witnesses "are not model citizens."

But he said they all didn't have reason to lie. The three men didn't particularly like each other, he said, but all were friends with Lewis.

The panel of three officers and four noncommissioned officers also found Lewis, 22, guilty of aggravated assault for an Aug. 28, 2005, drive-by shooting in which a Lakewood man was shot in the arm. Prosecutors had charged the more serious offense of attempted murder.