Chapter 17 - THE VERDICT
The jury deliberated four days.
Judith was convicted of:
Two counts of reckless homicide/involuntary manslaughter under the charged statute.
Two child-endangerment counts.
Administering a harmful substance.
Evidence tampering.
Obstruction.
Conspiracy involving false financial and capacity documents.
She was acquitted on a higher-level homicide count requiring a mental state the prosecution did not prove.
Acquitted on one financial fraud count where the Northbridge transaction itself had legitimate economic substance and the jury could not find the necessary intent beyond reasonable doubt.
Mixed.
Correct.
When the clerk read guilty on the second homicide count, my body did not react the way movies promise.
No relief.
No triumph.
Only exhaustion.
Noah was still dead.
Caleb was still dead.
Emma still knew the word coffin because her grandmother had threatened me beside one.
Afterward reporters shouted:
“Do you believe justice was done?”
I kept walking.
Pastor Reynolds walked with me.
Then one reporter:
“Did Judith murder your sons for money?”
I stopped.
Rebecca whispered:
“You don’t have to.”
I answered anyway.
“No.”
Cameras moved closer.
“The evidence did not show she intended to kill them for money. She recklessly gave them medication they were never supposed to receive. She ignored a warning. Their deaths became entangled with a financial struggle afterward.”
Then:
“Please do not turn my sons into a simpler story because a simpler story sells better.”
I left.
May you like
That statement was quoted for years.
I hated that too.
