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Guilty of first degree murder.
Such was the verdict of the jury in the trial of the murder of Todd Mullis Monday afternoon.
Mullis, a rural farmer from Earlville, was accused of stabbing his wife, Amy, with a corn rake on their farm on November 10, 2018. He pleaded not guilty.
The jury of twelve people – six men and six women – deliberated for about two and a half hours in the jury room just outside the Dubuque County hearing room on Friday afternoon, before getting up for the weekend and coming back this morning at 9 o'clock. On Monday, they deliberated for another five hours by submitting a written question just before noon about Google's Internet search times during last week's trial. "What does UTC mean? How is it affected by the summer time in Iowa? Does the time in Google searches in Iowa reflect that? Judge Thomas Bitter called the lawyers, along with Mullis via closed-circuit television, at 12:45 to answer the jury's question. The judge ruled that there would be no further evidence given.
The jury continued its deliberations and it was announced that they reached a verdict around 14:15.
It took about twenty minutes for everyone to be called in the audience room. The Mullis family entered the courtroom first, followed by the list of Deputies, Judicial Staff and Judges of the County of Dubuque County. Amy's family ranked last, silently moved, waiting for the verdict.
Mullis was then taken to the hearing room, followed by Judge Bitter and then the jury.
The chairman of the jury handed the verdict to the court clerk, who then passed it on to Judge Bitter, who read it aloud:
Mullis dropped his head when the verdict was read, shaking his head slightly and looking up several times. There was a calm reaction throughout the audience hall – with the visible tears of Amy's family. One could hear a pin falling while everyone watched three deputies put chains on Mullis' ankles, waist and wrists and take him away.
None of the parties – the Defense or the state – chose to speak to the media after the announcement of the verdict.
Now that he has been convicted of first degree murder, Mullis faces a life sentence with no possibility of parole. A conviction date has not yet been set.
courtesy of Telegraph Herald
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