UPDATE - After a day and half of testimony and just 2 hours of deliberation Betti Kern was convicted of murder. That charged carries 20 years to life in prison.
She was charged in the shooting death of David Griffin last August. The Prosecution calls it cold blooded murder while the defense says it was months of abuse built up before Kern snapped and took matters into her own hands.
The Prosecution rested at 11:00am Tuesday morning. Their key witness, Tim Rudolph, appeared Monday telling the jury exactly what he saw and heard the night of the shooting.
"There was no argument. Betti let us in her house, we drank together, then she followed David into the bathroom and shot him. She told me to 'get out' so I left," says Rudolph.
The Defense says David had been mentally and physically abusing Betti for months. Betti even tells the lead detective David was taunting her at her home months before the shooting.
"I'm sorry, I know I probably should have run out of the house screaming but I needed this to end. I just opened the bathroom door and I had that little 22 and I put it at the base of his skull and I put an end to this situation," says Kern to Detective Wentworth in her first interview the night of the shooting.
Betti was whisked away to jail after the conviction was read. The sentencing phase begins tomorrow morning at 8:30am.
Earlier story:
BREAKING NEWS: Jury finds Betti Kern guilty of murder. More information as it becomes available.
Earlier story:
The defense team of accused murderer Betti Kern rested today at 1:10 p.m.
The judge and attorneys from both sides are meeting prior to closing statements, after which the jury will take the case.
Earlier story:
The murder trial of Betti Kern will continue today inside a McCracken County Courtroom.
Betti Kern is accused of murdering David Griffin in 2011.
That trial began Monday, with emotional testimony from a friend of the victim, saying he was shot for no reason.
David Griffin's friend Tim Rudolph took the stand, saying the three were drinking beer and listening to the radio when Kern followed Griffin into the bathroom and shot him in the back of the head.
Rudolph adds that Betti Kern then told him to "get out of here," so he ran home.
Kern later called police and told investigators she shot Griffin in self-defense.
We will have a crew at the trial today and have the latest from inside the courtroom on Local 6 Midday.
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