Daily Iowan

Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Metro

Media Credit: Associated Press

After only three-and-a-half hours of deliberation, a jury of seven women and five men decided that Kyle Marin was guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the April 23, 2006, deaths of Katrina Hill and Molly Edmondson.

Upon hearing the news, cries of relief from family and friends of the 18-year-old victims were audible throughout the courtroom.

Marin remained detached and unemotional, consistent with his demeanor throughout the nearly two-week trial.

He was arrested in the slayings after turning himself in to the police. The women were discovered stabbed and bludgeoned to death in Edmondson's Cedar Rapids apartment.

A date for sentencing has not yet been set, but life in prison without the possibility of parole is mandated with a first-degree murder conviction.

Hill's father, Raymond Hill, who testified during the trial about discovering the women's bodies, said he was "satisfied" with the verdict. Regardless of the favorable outcome, the bigger picture was still bittersweet for him.

"We are reminded that none of this will bring our girls back," he said.

But before the jury reached the verdict, the members first heard the closing arguments from the prosecution and defense.

Assistant Linn County prosecutor Jason Burns commenced the state's final argument by showing the jury pictures of the victims prior to their deaths, reminding the group not to forget who the case was really about.

"It's important that we don't get personally lost in science and testimony of the past few days," Burns said.

The attorney made a point that the state, though has the burden of intent, does not need to prove the motive behind Marin's actions.

"There's no good answer for that," he said. "There's no answer sufficient to justify or explain Marin's actions that day."

Because Marin formed specific intent and premeditated the killings, he was responsible for the women's deaths, the prosecutor said. This is contrary to what Marin's insanity defense asserted. Burns said there is no minimum time requirement for premeditating a crime.

"[Premeditation] doesn't mean he had to write in his day planner, 'Today is the day I'm going to kill two people,' " he said.

Dave Diehl delivered the closing arguments for the defense, contending that Marin was not responsible for his actions because the antidepressant Zoloft and alcohol consumption rendered him incapable of forming specific intent, though Diehl later said the trial wasn't even about whether Marin was guilty, but "what degree."

Diehl brought up his own daughter in his closing argument and how it made the case initially difficult for him to take.

At the close of his argument, he stated he believed Marin should be punished for what he did.

In the state's rebuttal argument, Linn County head prosecutor Harold Denton maintained that there was no excuse for the 21-year-old's violent actions.

"Zoloft and alcohol did not kill those two women," he said.

E-mail DI reporter Samantha Miller at:

samantha-a-miller@uiowa.edu

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