Jury to Deliberate in King Death Penalty Case

SARASOTA, Florida–Closing arguments are now underway in the death penalty trial of Michael King, accused of raping and murdering 21-year-old Denise Lee in January 2008. Jurors should begin their deliberations later today.

On Thursday, medical examiner Dr. Daniel Schultz testified to an execution-style shot to the head that caused the death of Lee, which he demonstrated to the jury with a wooden pistol. Schultz’s demonstration showed that the gun used to kill Lee would have been touching the young mother’s right temple at her upper eyebrow when the one shot was fired. Her right eye was ruptured from the force.

Prosecutors have already identified a fluid on King’s car consistent with the DNA of Lee. Schultz also told jurors, “If you tell me blood spatter was around it, I do believe the contents of the young mother’s eye was on the defendant’s car.”

This testimony is vital to the prosecution’s case against King. A murder weapon was never found and the defendant was never seen with bullets, so Lee’s bodily contents on the defendant’s car link him directly with the murder itself.

Defense attorneys questioned Schultz about the contact shot and the potential spatter and eye fluid on the defendant’s car, but stressed King himself did not have any of Lee’s blood on him. Testing of the defendant’s clothes showed no sign of the victim’s blood or bodily fluid.

In other testimony, a supervisor with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department forensic unit testified about the gravesite where investigators found Lee’s body. Louis Wood, who is also a trained archeologist, testified that the grave area looked different from other vegetation in the area even on first observation.

Investigators dug three feet, three inches from the surface of the soil and encountered the right shoulder of the victim. Lee was nude, curled in a fetal position with bloody duct tape on the back of her head. Once her body was removed, the entire grave was determined to be 4 feet 1 inch deep.

The gravesite included new and fresh plant life substantially below the surface showing recent movement of the soil, Wood testified.

–Stay tuned to In Session for all the latest from inside the Florida courtroom.