PHOENIX, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A Phoenix jury began deliberating Tuesday in the retrial of Jonathan Doody, charged with killing nine people at a Buddhist temple in 1991.
Doody, 39, was retried after his 1993 conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court. The eight men and four women on the Maricopa County Superior Court jury received the case after a four-week trial, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic reported.
In closing arguments Monday, a plea agreement offered to key prosecution witness Alessandro "Alex" Garcia was described by defense attorney Maria Schaffer as a "deal with the devil." Garcia was the only witness to place Doody at the Wat Promkunaram temple in Waddell on the night nine people were robbed and executed.
Prosecutor Jason Kalish told jurors only Doody and his accomplice, Garcia, were responsible, and that the accomplice told the truth, adding Garcia's story had not wavered in 22 years.
Doody and Garcia were both convicted in 1993, Doody by a jury, since overturned, and Garcia in a plea deal that spared him the death penalty.
