Los Angeles ? Two elderly women accused of killing two homeless men to collect millions of dollars in insurance payouts were convicted Wednesday of conspiracy to murder, and one of them was convicted of the murders themselves.

In an unusual step, the jury was to hear more arguments today before deciding remaining counts in the case against Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75. The judge decided to take five initial verdicts.

Golay was convicted of the first-degree murders of Kenneth McDavid, 50, in 2005 and Paul Vados, 73, in 1999. She also was convicted of the conspiracy counts in both killings.

Rutterschmidt was convicted of conspiracy to murder McDavid for financial gain.

Prosecutors said the women collected $2.8 million from insurance policies on the lives of two homeless men who were killed in staged hit-and-runs.

Golay’s convictions carry potential sentences of life in prison without possibility of parole.

The single conspiracy count returned against Rutterschmidt carries a sentence of 25 years to life.