JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After more than seven hours of deliberations, an accused serial killer's fate remains unknown.
At about 11:30 a.m. Friday a jury began deliberating the guilt or innocence of Paul Durousseau.
Recommended Videos
Durousseau took the stand in his own defense on Thursday and admitted having sex with three women before their deaths but said he wasn't the one who killed them.
Durousseau is standing trial in the 1999 killing of Tyresa Mack. However, the deaths of Nikia Kilpatrick and Shawanda McCalister have played prominent roles in his trial.
He is accused of taking the lives of a total of six women between 1997 and 2003.
Durousseau was arrested in 2003. DNA linked him to Mack's death.
The jury in Durousseau's trial has heard two weeks of testimony as the prosecution hammered at the idea that the defendant not only killed Mack but also Kilpatrick and McCalister.
Durousseau's attorney has called several witnesses to try to poke holes in the prosecution's proposal.
The defendant spent about 90 minutes on the stand, answering questions about his relationships with Mack, Kilpatrick and McCalister.
On the stand, Durousseau admitted he was at McCalister's apartment the night she died in 2003 but left and came back and found her dead.
"When I got to the door, I knocked on it and it was cracked. I pushed it open and said her name, Shawanda. I went into her bedroom and hit the light and saw her laying on the floor facedown," Durousseau testified.
While on the stand, the defendant admitted he met Mack in April 1999 and that, for three months, saw her frequently.
The last time he said he saw Mack was July 26 -- the day she was killed. He admitted that when he found out about her death, he did not call police.
He told the court he heard she had been shot, and he didn't contact police because he didn't have any information to give them and she was alive when he left.
Prosecutors argued that Durousseau's DNA was found not only on Mack, but also on five other women, including Kilpatrick and McCalister.
Durousseau admitted he also had sex with Kilpatrick and McCalister shortly before their deaths in 2002 and 2003 but denied anything else.
"Your sex life keeps getting interrupted, doesn't it?" the prosecuting attorney asked Durousseau.
"It all depends on what you mean," Durousseau said.
"You've had sex with three women now who have been killed after you've had sex with them?" the prosecuting attorney said.
"There was also other people showing up," Durousseau said.
"Right. Your sex life keeps getting interrupted?" the prosecuting attorney asked.
"Correct," Durousseau said.
The defendant also admitted to lying to detectives when he initially denied knowing any of the slain women.
Channel 4's Adam Landau is in the courtroom and will have full reports when the jury reaches it verdict.
Previous Stories:
- June 4, 2007: Defense Makes Case In Suspected Killer's Trial
- May 31, 2007: Prosecution Rests In Trial Of Suspected Killer
- May 24, 2007: Prosecution: DNA Links Defendant To Killing
- May 23, 2007: Trial Begins For Accused Serial Killer
- September 4, 2003: Grand Jury Indicts Suspected Serial Killer For Sixth Murder
- August 27, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Faces One More Murder Charge
- June 20, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Once Drove School Bus
- June 19, 2003: Durousseau Indicted: 5 Counts Of First-Degree Murder
- June 18, 2003: Family Of Murder Victims Mourn June 18, 2003: Gator City Taxi President Comes To Town For Answers
- June 17, 2003: Father Of Murder Victim Knows Accused Killer
- June 17, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Under Arrest