(Image Source: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel)
BY MEGAN NOE
ANCHOR CHRISTY LEWIS
You're watching multisource U.S. news analysis from Newsy.
A jury has convicted Florida millionaire Bob Ward of killing his wife in their Orlando mansion two years ago. Could it be the first example of what some are calling “the Casey Anthony effect”?
After more than 13 hours of deliberation, the jury convicted the millionaire developer of second degree murder. His wife, Diane, was shot point blank in the face after the defense said she took a double dose of antidepressants.
“He said he was trying to take a gun away from a woman who was trying to harm herself -- an argument the state never believed... He faces the possibility of a life sentence, but even the minimum mandatory of 25 years for a man over 60 years old already is fundamentally a life sentence according to his attorney.”
The shooting came just days before Diane was to appear in court -- alleging her husband blew millions while his business went bankrupt. And ABC reports -- then, there were Ward’s suspicious actions.
“There was Ward’s bizarre behavior while in jail, dancing and mugging for the camera during a family visit. Then there was that infamous 911 call Ward made the night of the shooting, in September 2009.
WARD: ‘I just shot my wife. She’s dead. She’s done.’”
Ward’s attorney told WKMG the jury may have been influenced by another high-profile case tried in the same courthouse this summer.
“But the defense was also concerned resentment over the acquittal of another accused murderer here this summer lingers over jurors in Orange County.
KIRKCONNELL: ‘Certainly, what happened in Casey Anthony makes it more difficult for any defendant probably anywhere in the state of Florida to get a fair trial. And that’s a concern.’”
But an Orlando Sentinel blogger quotes a WKMG analyst who says Ward didn’t get the Casey Anthony treatment. He says Ward’s jury is, quote --
“...apparently doing what juries are supposed to do. They’re asking questions. They’re challenging each other’s recollections.... Clearly this jury is being very thoughtful, very deliberate as a process...”
Ward could face life in prison when he is sentenced in November.
Transcript by Newsy
