Jury Deliberations Begin in Jerry Wayne Walker Jr. Case

Attorneys gave closing arguments this morning in the retrial of Jerry Wayne Walker. Walker faces charges associated to a 1998 Murray State dormitory fire that resulted in the death of one student and the permanent injury of another.

Defense attorneys Richard and Dennis Null focused their case on, among other points, that they believed the prosecution did not put forth enough evidence to prove their client committed the crime. Richard Null said police, however, do know members of the rugby team had made prank calls about fire that night to a student on that floor. He suggested the rugby players might have been involved instead.

Prosecution attorney Mark Blankenship argued that not was there gas in the threshold of Walker’s door, but that the defendant had also written a series of letters assigning blame for the fire to someone else. He later denied and then admitted responsibility for these letters. The jury went into deliberation around noon. This is Walker’s second trial, after a 2001 trial resulted in a hung jury.