Jury Deliberations Underway In Gribble Home Invasion Murder Case
NASHUA, N.H. (CBS) - Jurors in the Christopher Gribble murder trial were set to resume deliberating Friday morning after the case was handed to them on Thursday afternoon.
The five women and seven men on the jury were deciding whether Gribble, now 21, was insane when he killed Kimberly Cates in her Mont Vernon home.
WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports
Jurors will be asked to address several factors during their deliberations.
The questions include: the nature of the crimes, whether he was suffering from delusions, whether he knew the difference between right and wrong, whether he knew the nature of his acts, whether he had the power to choose between right and wrong, whether he could recognize his aquaintance and whether he could transact business and manage his affairs.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mark Katic reports
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If jurors find Gribble sane at the time of the crime, he will be sentenced on all of the charges. First-degree murder convictions bring an automatic life sentence in New Hampshire.
If they find he is insane, he would likely be sent to the state hospital with a chance for a hearing to be free in five years.
GRAPHIC TESTIMONY
Earlier in the day, Dr. Jenny Duval, the state's medical examiner and final witness, described the autopsy of Kimberly Cates. The testimony was so graphic, Kimberly's husband David, along with his family and friends, stood up and walked out of the courtroom. Until that point, Cates had sat in the front row through all of the testimony.
Dr. Duval then described the 32 injuries Kimberly Cates suffered, noting at one point that she found tissue from Kimberly Cates's daughter Jaimie on her body.
Duval also testified that Cates was alive when she suffered all 32 wounds and used her hands and feet to try and fight off her attackers.
She then showed jurors the pictures of Kimberly Cates' body and described the wounds. Several jurors had to look away during this part of the testimony. Gribble, meanwhile, watched the jurors with his attorney, and wrote on a notepad with a marker.
After Dr. Duval's testimony, the state rested its case, and the court took a brief recess before both sides began to present closing arguments.
Prosecutor Peter Hinkley told the jury Gribble is a cold-blooded criminal who got caught and is using the insanity defense to avoid justice and responsibility.
He held up the knife used in the attacks and said Gribble was sane when he tried to "stick this knife into Jaimie Cates chest and he was sane when he murdered Kimberly Cates."
He went on to say "He is a selfish, exaggerating drama queen who shifts the truth and makes himself out to be the victim."
Gribble's father sat typing on an iPad in the courtroom.
WBZ-TV's Karen Anderson contributed to this report.
