Beebe case now with jury of his peers

PAW PAW, Mich. (WOOD) - A jury of his peers will now decide if Junior Beebe Jr. intended to kill Amy Henslee and Tonya Howarth or believe his story that Howarth killed Henslee and he shot Howarth after a struggle.

After delivering his instructions around 4:30 p.m. Friday, the judge told the jury to pick a foreperson as a precursor to deliberating the evidence in the trial. Beebe is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the case.

The jurors were sent home at 7:00 p.m. and are scheduled to resume deliberations Tuesday.

Fourteen people were chosen as jurors, and two women were excused as the alternates.

Closing Arguments:

Prosecutor Juris Kaps called Junior Beebe Jr. a killer in his closing arguments, while defense attorney David Hunt said there is no real evidence to show Beebe is guilty of killing two women.

Kaps took nearly an hour to make his closings to the jury. Holding the murder weapon -- a shotgun - inside the wood-frame replica of Beebe's trailer where the killings happened, Kaps went through the evidence presented from the medical examiner, detectives and technicians.

He told the jury they should return a guilty verdict of first-degree murder

Hunt then took his turn around 2:40 p.m.

He also used the trailer replica to lay out a different theory of the crime and events, and said "there are an infinite variety" of ways things "went down in that room."

Beebe's story, Hunt said, is the only one that fits -- that Tonya Howarth shot Amy Henslee, then he shot Howarth after a struggle for the gun.

Tonya, Hunt said, was a raving monster in Beebe's mind when the altercation took place.

Friday Testimony:

Beebe stands accused of killing Henslee, a 30-year-old mother of two, and his girlfriend Howarth, 36, in a trailer on his family's Bangor Township property in January, then burying their bodies in a shallow grave right next to it.

The gun apparently used in the murders was the key focus during Friday's testimony.

Sean Baker, a fingerprint expert with the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, testified no prints were found on the gun.

Beth Clark, a firearms expert with the crime lab, then took the witness stand. She said the first evidence found in the shallow grave was a shotgun shell. Also in the grave, among other items Clark said, were plastic bags, a receipt, a hacksaw, duct tape, a lighter package, shoes and cement.

Clark said the victims' bodies were buried at about 3 feet deep, and the first victim found was Henslee.

The gun used in the shootings jammed frequently during test firing, Clark testified.

Katherine Meredith, a DNA expert with the MSP crime lab, testified Friday that Howarth's DNA was not found on the alleged murder weapon. Meredith said there is no DNA evidence that shows Henslee was ever in the trailer.

The prosecution and defense rested their cases around 11:30 a.m.