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http://courttv.aol.com/trials/turner/051404_verdict_ctv.html
PERRY, Ga. A Georgia jury found Julia Lynn Turner guilty Friday of murdering her husband in 1995 by feeding him antifreeze.
Moments before the verdict was read, Turner told Courttv.com she was thinking positively and was mentally prepared for any outcome, but added that she would not show any reaction.
True to form, Turner remained completely still and displayed no emotion as she was pronounced guilty of "malice murder" at about 7:30 p.m., and immediately sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment.
Turner, 35, was charged with the killing of her husband, Cobb County police officer Maurice Glenn Turner, 31.
Turner is also a suspect, but has not been charged, in the 2001 antifreeze-poisoning death of Forsyth County firefighter Randy Thompson, 32, with whom she had been having an affair at the time of her husband's death.
Glenn Turner died in 1995 a day after being admitted to the emergency room with flu-like symptoms.
Lynn Turner's family sat quietly and did not cry when the verdict was announced. The families of the two victims sat in the second and third rows of the courthouse, holding hands and trying to fight back audible sobs as each juror affirmed the decision.
For the relatives of Glenn Turner, it was a breathtaking outcome, an answer to a question they waited nine years to understand: How did a healthy man die so young?
On March 2, 1995, Glenn Turner was admitted to the emergency room complaining of flu-like symptoms, but was released after reportedly feeling better. He died alone at home the next day and his death was initially attributed to an enlarged heart.
Six years later, Randy Thompson died shortly after visiting an ER with some of the same symptoms. His death was also ruled heart failure, but when a Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner found calcium oxalate crystals the telltale sign of ethylene glycol poisoning in Thompson's kidneys, authorities exhumed Glenn's body and found the same crystals in his kidney tissues.
Lynn Turner is also a suspect in the death of her boyfriend, Randy Thompson, who also died of antifreeze poisoning.
"The simplest solution is correct: Two men died of ethylene glycol poisoning, two men were having a relationship with Lynn Turner," prosecutor Patrick Head said during closing arguments Friday.
Turner's defense had asserted that the two deaths were not all similar, and there was no direct evidence tying her to the only murder she was charged with her husband's.
But in what may have been a critical decision, Superior Court Judge James Bodiford allowed prosecutors to present evidence about Thompson's death and his relationship with Lynn.
"I think a higher court is going to really have to take a look at that," defense attorney Jim Berry told reporters. "We heard more evidence on the Thompson case than the Turner case. If we had tried the Glenn Turner case alone, in my heart I believe the verdict would have been different."
Jury foreman John Glover told reporters that the similarity of the ethylene glycol in both men, romantically linked to one woman, played a major part in their finding.
Yet after deliberating for almost five hours, Glover said, not one juror left the room until each knew "in our hearts and our minds" that they had made the right decision.
Lynn Turner was taken into custody, outside the presence of the courtroom and the cameras, and transferred back to Cobb County where she will be permitted to spend a short period with her two children, whom she had with Thompson, before being taken to prison.
Prosecutor Jack Mallard said that a Forsyth County grand jury will meet some time in June regarding the Thompson case.
Perry Thompson, the father of firefighter Randy Thompson, said that the ordeal had created a common bond between the two deceased men's families, and that he looked forward to seeing justice brought to his son.
He acknowledged, however, that it was difficult for all families involved.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to them," Thompson said, referring to Lynn Turner's parents. "It's a sad situation for everybody."
PERRY, Ga. A Georgia jury found Julia Lynn Turner guilty Friday of murdering her husband in 1995 by feeding him antifreeze.
Moments before the verdict was read, Turner told Courttv.com she was thinking positively and was mentally prepared for any outcome, but added that she would not show any reaction.
True to form, Turner remained completely still and displayed no emotion as she was pronounced guilty of "malice murder" at about 7:30 p.m., and immediately sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment.
Turner, 35, was charged with the killing of her husband, Cobb County police officer Maurice Glenn Turner, 31.
Turner is also a suspect, but has not been charged, in the 2001 antifreeze-poisoning death of Forsyth County firefighter Randy Thompson, 32, with whom she had been having an affair at the time of her husband's death.
Glenn Turner died in 1995 a day after being admitted to the emergency room with flu-like symptoms.
Lynn Turner's family sat quietly and did not cry when the verdict was announced. The families of the two victims sat in the second and third rows of the courthouse, holding hands and trying to fight back audible sobs as each juror affirmed the decision.
For the relatives of Glenn Turner, it was a breathtaking outcome, an answer to a question they waited nine years to understand: How did a healthy man die so young?
On March 2, 1995, Glenn Turner was admitted to the emergency room complaining of flu-like symptoms, but was released after reportedly feeling better. He died alone at home the next day and his death was initially attributed to an enlarged heart.
Six years later, Randy Thompson died shortly after visiting an ER with some of the same symptoms. His death was also ruled heart failure, but when a Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner found calcium oxalate crystals the telltale sign of ethylene glycol poisoning in Thompson's kidneys, authorities exhumed Glenn's body and found the same crystals in his kidney tissues.
Lynn Turner is also a suspect in the death of her boyfriend, Randy Thompson, who also died of antifreeze poisoning.
"The simplest solution is correct: Two men died of ethylene glycol poisoning, two men were having a relationship with Lynn Turner," prosecutor Patrick Head said during closing arguments Friday.
Turner's defense had asserted that the two deaths were not all similar, and there was no direct evidence tying her to the only murder she was charged with her husband's.
But in what may have been a critical decision, Superior Court Judge James Bodiford allowed prosecutors to present evidence about Thompson's death and his relationship with Lynn.
"I think a higher court is going to really have to take a look at that," defense attorney Jim Berry told reporters. "We heard more evidence on the Thompson case than the Turner case. If we had tried the Glenn Turner case alone, in my heart I believe the verdict would have been different."
Jury foreman John Glover told reporters that the similarity of the ethylene glycol in both men, romantically linked to one woman, played a major part in their finding.
Yet after deliberating for almost five hours, Glover said, not one juror left the room until each knew "in our hearts and our minds" that they had made the right decision.
Lynn Turner was taken into custody, outside the presence of the courtroom and the cameras, and transferred back to Cobb County where she will be permitted to spend a short period with her two children, whom she had with Thompson, before being taken to prison.
Prosecutor Jack Mallard said that a Forsyth County grand jury will meet some time in June regarding the Thompson case.
Perry Thompson, the father of firefighter Randy Thompson, said that the ordeal had created a common bond between the two deceased men's families, and that he looked forward to seeing justice brought to his son.
He acknowledged, however, that it was difficult for all families involved.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to them," Thompson said, referring to Lynn Turner's parents. "It's a sad situation for everybody."