Jury dismissed until Friday in murder trial

UPDATE - 7:15 p.m.

The jury in the murder trial against Gary Dunn has been dismissed until 10 a.m. Friday.

Judge Bill Pearson announced that decision at 7:09 p.m., about 15 minutes after receiving a note from the jury.

Pearson did not announce the contents of the note.

UPDATE - 4:38 p.m.

CLARKSVILLE - One of the 12 jurors in the murder trial against Gary Dunn was dismissed shortly after the group left the courtroom to begin deliberations.

Judge Bill Pearson appointed an alternate to fill the dismissed juror's role and then called the jury back into the courtroom. He then advised them to disregard any deliberations that had occurred and to start the process anew.

No reason for the dismissal was given.

UPDATE - 3:30 p.m.

CLARKSVILLE - The jury has retired to begin deliberating whether Gary Dunn is guilty of the 2005 murder of Nona Dirksmeyer.

Prosecutors wrapped up their rebuttal to the defense closing argument just before 3:30 p.m.

Special prosecutor Jack McQuary addressed the jurors for about two-and-a-half hours, offering a detailed review of the events leading up to, during and after Dirksmeyer's death according to the prosecution.

McQuary also challenged several assertions made by defense attorney Bill James in his closing argument earlier Thursday.

Among them, he said a condom wrapper found at the scene was "definite proof that Gary Dunn was there and had contact with Nona."

"It is a 1 in 120 million profile that fits this man right here. And that doesn't take into account that he lived about 200 feet away from that right there," McQuary said, pointing to a crime scene photo showing Dirksmeyer's body on a courtroom display.

The defense raised questions about the DNA and called in its own expert witness, who testified the evidence was less significant than prosecutors claimed.

McQuary later offered the jury a theory for why the state's chief medical examiner would find Dirksmeyer's cut wounds on the neck appeared to be caused by someone who is right-handed. Dunn is left-handed.

McQuary, counting aloud while making 17 cutting motions, said Dirksmeyer likely tried to escape her attacker, who perhaps held her in place with his dominant hand while cutting her with the other.

"You bet she would try to get away from that," McQuary said.

McQuary also dismissed arguments by the defense that the behavior of Dirksmeyer's boyfriend, Kevin Jones, was suspicious. James earlier told the jury how Jones punched a chair multiple times while in police custody.

"I'm sorry," McQuary said. "I've never read that book of exactly how a person is supposed to act when they find their loved one murdered."

The defense has argued throughout the trial that Jones, who was tried on a murder charge in Dirksmeyer's death and acquitted in 2007, was the actual killer.

McQuary asked jurors to look for guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, not beyond an absolute doubt.

"You weren't there," McQuary said. "We weren't there. You can't hold us to that burden."

UPDATE - 12:20 p.m.

CLARKSVILLE -Over two-and-a-half hours so far today, prosecutors and defense attorneys have painted starkly different pictures of who is responsible for Nona Dirksmeyer's death and how the evidence and testimony should be interpreted.

Closing arguments in the capital murder case against Gary Dunn will continue after a lunch recess when the prosecution offers its rebuttal of the defense arguments.

Special prosecutor H.G. Foster spoke first this morning, telling jurors the evidence shows Dunn attempted to rape Dirksmeyer and then violently killed her. Foster also said the defense had not proved Dirksmeyer's boyfriend, Kevin Jones, was responsible for the death, which Dunn's attorneys have argued throughout the trial.

Jones was accused of the crime before Dunn but was acquitted in 2007.

In his closing statement, defense attorney Bill James reiterated that Jones is more likely the killer than Dunn. He said the jury heard testimony and saw evidence supporting that stance, including inconsistencies in statements Jones made to police and the presence of his palm print on a light bulb in the lamp used to kill Dirksmeyer.

James argued there are serious questions about the methods of the DNA expert who the prosecution used to link Dunn to the crime and that there was no evidence a sexual assault actually took place.

Foster, meanwhile, said the fact that Dirksmeyer's pants and underwear appeared to have been "stripped off by an assailant" constituted "powerful evidence" someone had attempted to sexually assault her.

"It would be my argument, by application of common sense, there is substantial evidence of sexual assault," Foster told the jurors, emphasizing the word "substantial."

Foster later dismissed an argument by the defense that Jones' response to finding Dirksmeyer's body and attempting to offer medical aid was unreasonable.

"I offer you even if she had been obviously dead, it is a human, natural response to rush to that person and to cradle them," he said. "... It's not wrong for Kevin Jones to make sure he couldn't do anything to help her. But you're being asked to penalize him for that. That is not reasonable."

James suggested Jones' actions then were questionable, his alibi flawed and his interviews with police dishonest. Jones, for example, told officers he watched crime shows like CSI but then denied doing so when he testified, James said.

"Why do you lie to police about anything?" James said. "Because you're trying to hide something."

Foster concluded his closing argument by pointing to Dunn and emphatically telling the jury, "That is the individual who tried to rape and who murdered Nona Dirskmeyer."

James finished his remarks by suggesting Jones' family got him off while Dunn's family did not have the same "sophistication" to do so.

"Somebody should pay for what they did, but not some random somebody," James said, adding later, "The only honest decision is not guilty."

UPDATE - 9:36 a.m.

CLARKSVILLE - Closing arguments in the capital murder case against Gary Dunn are about to begin.

After that phase, the jury will deliberate whether Dunn is guilty of killing 19-year-old Nona Dirksmeyer in her Russellville apartment.

The jury entered the courtroom shortly before 9:30 a.m. and is now being advised by Judge Bill Pearson on the charges prosecutors must have proved to return a guilty verdict and the laws surrounding interpreting evidence and testimony.

Among the items conveyed to the jurors, Pearson told them Dunn was not required to take the stand. The fact that he did not do so "under no circumstances shall be considered by you in arriving at your verdict," Pearson said.

Dunn is the second man to be tried in the 2005 slaying. Her boyfriend at the time, Kevin Jones, was acquitted of a murder charge in 2007.

Jones was among those who took the stand in the case, which opened April 15 at the Johnson County Courthouse.

Since opening statements, Dunn's attorneys have challenged evidence presented by the prosecution - including DNA purported to be linked to Dunn found on a condom wrapper in Dirksmeyer's apartment the day she died - while suggesting that Jones was actually responsible for the death.

Dunn, his hands and legs shackled, was escorted into the courthouse by a sheriff's deputy shortly after 8 a.m. He did not respond when questioned by a reporter on how he thought the case would turn out.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty against Dunn if he is convicted.