FORT MYERS, Fla. -- We could learn the fate of one of the men accused of murdering Dr. Teresa Sievers as soon as Tuesday morning.
Monday, Jimmy Rodgers's defense rested their case without calling a single witness to the stand.
We had mentioned Rodgers may take the stand in his own defense. But when the judge gave him the option, he declined.
Rodgers is one of three people charged in a murder-for-hire conspiracy. The state says Rodgers and Curtis Wright beat Dr. Sievers to death with a pair of hammers.
This happened in her Bonita Springs home in 2015.
In closing statements on Monday, the prosecution summarized all of the evidence they presented during the trial. They also focused on how Rodgers lied about going to Florida in the first place.
“Why were Curtis Wayne Wright and Jimmy Ray Rodgers in Florida on June 28th and the early hours of June 29th? The answer to that question has become clear: they were here to murder Teresa Sievers.”
The defense, meanwhile, pounced on what they call flaws in the state's physical evidence, including the blue jumpsuit Rodgers allegedly wore for the murder that detectives found on the side of the road in Missouri.
The other person accused of doing this, Curtis Wright, took a plea deal. The state says Sievers's husband Mark orchestrated the whole thing.
"This blue jumpsuit by the side of the road, without any blood on it. The state will have you believe it laid out there, it was mowed on and rained on it. I mean, does it rain seltzer in Missouri?" argued the defense.
The defense also said using a hammer as a murder weapon also indicates a crime of rage, not a contract killing.
Fox 4 will continue to stream the trial proceedings live on our website, including the verdict when that happens.
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