Nov. 21--BUTLER COUNTY, OH-- After seven days of testimony, including both defendants, closing arguments were made Tuesday morning in the trial of two men charged with arson and murder for the 2015 death of Hamilton firefighter Patrick Wolterman.
The jury deliberated for about an hour after getting the case at 4:15 p.m., and deliberations were to continue Wednesday.
Lester Parker, 68, and his nephew,William Tucker, 46, of Richmond, KY, are charged with arson and murder in the fire at Parker's Pater Avenue home that killed Wolterman on Dec. 28, 2015.
Both men denied any involvement in the deadly fire when they testified Monday in their own defense.
Tucker admitted to being in Hamilton during the early morning hours when the fire occurred, but said he came to get pain pills from one of Parker's daughtersand then "peddle" them in Hamilton to make cash. He also admitted to lying to police when they first questioned him about his whereabouts that day by saying he was in Richmond, Ky.
Parker testified he moved items from his house to his garage to make room for a family gathering, not as the prosecution has said, to spare them from the fire.
He denied conspiring to set his house on fire and said he has never been told exactly what caused the blaze.
Both men said witnesses, including relatives, lied during testimony.
During closing arguments, Assistant Butler County Prosecutor David Kash told the jury they could make inferences from text messages and testimony to conclude Parker and Tucker are guilty of murder and arson.
He meticulously went over social media messages, phone records and even a Hamilton police license plate reader that caught the image of the car that a Hamilton woman used to drive Tucker to the city on the morning of the fire.
"Clearly this is a case of circumstantial evidence," Kash said, telling the jury to "take facts you know and make reasonable inference,"
Kash told the jury that the state is not arguing Parker and Tucker purposely killed Wolterman, but rather conspired to commit arson that resulted in Wolterman's death.
"If someone acts in partnership with the person who actually committed the crime, he is just as guilty," Kash said.
Parker was in Las Vegas celebrating his 45th wedding anniversary at the time of the fire.
Kash said a phone call placed to Parker from Richmond, Ky., on Dec. 20 marked when the arson fire was planned. He also pointed to a text message Tucker sent to a girlfriend at 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2015, saying, "finished the job."
"The data starts to tighten the noose," Kash told the jury.
"Is that solid evidence of arson and murder?" Parker's defense attorney, David Washington, asked the jury, adding it is not their job to connect the dots for the prosecution.
Washington said there was no evidence presented about what was said in the phone conversation on Dec. 20 or who was talking.
Washington reiterated to the jury what he told them in opening statements -- that the witnesses would be "pill heads and dope fiends."
Washington pointed to Melissa Lainhart-Jones, Parker's daughter who admitted to stealing drugs from her father and has been living for weeks in a hotel room paid for by the city of Hamilton.
The defense attorney called Wolterman a hero, but said there is no evidence that Parker conspired to set the fire.
"You look out there and see those faces and those uniforms and you want to do something," Washington said.
The courtroom has been packed each day with firefighters in dress uniform.
But he urged the jury not to be swayed and to look for the evidence.
"Some of the hardest things to do are the right things to do," Washington said. "Where is the evidence?"
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