A Tarrant County jury won't start deliberations until sometime Monday morning, after both the prosecution and defense rested their cases in the trial of a Keller woman accused of killing her husband.
Michele Williams faces life in prison for the October 2011 murder of her husband, Gregory Williams. She agreed to a plea deal for a lesser charge but earlier this year said she was innocent and blamed poor counsel for the decision.
On Friday, her new defense team rested its case after presenting five witnesses over the last two days. Only two witnesses took the stand before the jury was sent home well before noon. Closing arguments will be held on Monday morning.
Michele Williams did not take the stand in her own defense, which is her right. The focus of Friday testimony was on her, her husband's and their businesses financial records.
The defense called Cyndy Kimberling, a forensic accountant, to try and prove their case where they argue Greg Williams shot and killed himself because of money concerns.
"They tended to be living beyond their means," Kimberling testified.
The defense highlighted Greg Williams' IT consulting business, where the majority of expenses were for personal uses.
"Child care expenses, there were medical care expenses," Kimberling explained.
But the Tarrant County District Attorney's office used Kimberling to argue its case that Michele Williams was after money. Money was being transferred from Greg Williams' business to a business owned by Michele Williams and she was writing checks from his business account.
"What I saw was that Michele was writing checks, she was a check writer," Kimberling said.
Kimberling also said there was no real record keeping for the company and that using the business for personal expenses violated it's stature as a corporation.
With both sides using evidence to show that money was the motive, it is up to the jury to decide which story to believe; that financial problems led to Greg Williams' suicide or Michele Williams was looking for money and committed murder. The motive and physical evidence will, obviously, play a key role.
Closing arguments are expected to begin at 8:15 a.m. on Monday. The jury will have the case once those arguments are done.
During the punishment phase, if Michelle Williams is convicted, details about her alleged pregnancy, which delayed her reporting to jail under a plea agreement, could be discussed.
