ALFRED, Maine -- A York woman who claimed she shot her abusive husband in self-defense was acquitted of murder Wednesday by a Superior Court jury.
The panel deliberated about four hours before returning the innocent verdict in York County Superior Court against Jacqueline Bevins, 51.
Jurors said they believed Bevins' story that she killed her husband, John Bevins, after enduring more than two decades of physical and emotional abuse at his hands.
Prosecutors said Jacqueline Bevins, a restaurateur, pumped 15 bullets into her husband as he soaked in a bathtub at the couple's oceanfront home in York.
But during the two-week trial, defense attorneys painted John Bevins, 47, as an alcoholic and a womanizer who battered his wife and subjected her to emotional as well as physical abuse throughout their 23-year marriage.
Jurors viewed a videotape in which Bevins told police after the shooting that her husband had brutalized her for years.
Assistant Attorney General Thomas Goodwin said that if he had viewed that tape before seeking an indictment, Bevins would have been charged with manslaughter instead of murder.
The jury had the option of convicting Bevins of murder or of the lesser charge of manslaughter. However, the panel cleared her of all charges, saying they believed she acted in self-defense.
