It took jurors just less than three hours Friday to return a guilty verdict in the capital murder trial of Glen Denson, who was accused of shooting his wife and her boyfriend three years ago before setting them both on fire.
About 20 family members of victims Sharon Denson, 50, and Sidney Dees, 64, sat behind prosecutors as the verdict was read, passing tissues as they wept.
“I want you to know I still love you and I miss you so much,” Sharon and Glen Denson's son, Christopher, told his father during an emotional victim impact statement. “I just want all this to be over. I hurt so much.”
After the jury's verdict was read, state District Judge Philip Kazen immediately sentenced Glen Denson, 48, to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Denson was arrested in June 2008, hours after his severely burned wife was able to stagger out of her boyfriend's burning house with seven bullet wounds and tell multiple witnesses her husband was responsible. She died a week later.
Police immediately noticed burns on the defendant's legs. In addition, prosecutors Linda Molina and Rita Spiegel pointed out, ammunition found in Glen Denson's house was the same size used on the victims, his arm hair was singed, a speck of gunshot residue was found on his arm and his clothes tested positive for having gasoline on them.
“Don't look for plot twists,” Spiegel warned jurors during closing arguments. “Sometimes real life is very simple. The decision ... should be very simple in this case.”
But when prosecutors say real life isn't a TV show like “CSI: Miami” where trace evidence is abundant, it's an excuse “because they have absolutely, positively no physical evidence that ties Mr. Denson to this offense,” countered defense attorney Stephanie Boyd.
The gunshot residue test could have been contaminated because the crime scene investigator didn't wear gloves, she said. In addition, she said, none of his DNA was found at the crime scene. She pointed to one witness who said he wasn't sure Sharon Denson had her wits about her when she identified her husband.
“Everybody knew that everybody was dating somebody else,” she said. “It was cordial. The state brought you nothing to show that ... anybody was upset over anything.”
Wondering what Glen Denson's motive could have been is something that still bothers his extended family, his brother in law, California resident Donald Kirkland, said outside the courtroom.
“Glen's been part of our family for 25 years,” Kirkland said, explaining that it's hard for family members to hate him. Mostly, he and others said, they just feel pain.
Family members of victim Sidney Dees pointed out that Friday would have been his 67th birthday. A career Marine, he had served two tours of duty in Vietnam, earning a Purple Heart, and served in the first Gulf War before retiring to San Antonio two decades ago to be near family in Houston.
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