Attorneys made closing arguments Wednesday in the murder trial of Jason D'Avolio-the Rome man accused of killing his estranged wife, Kerrilee D'Avolio, and putting her body in a dumpster, in July of last year. Defense attorney, Leland McCormac, told jurors Kerrilee was driven by depression to take her own life.
"Kerrilee was a beautiful loving and fun loving woman that did love her children that suffered from a deadly disease that took her life," said McCormac.
The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Kerrilee D'Avolio said she'd performed more than 5000 autopsies, and never seen one where a person committed suicide by shooting themselves in the back of the head with a long gun. The defense, during closing arguments, maintained that it was possible.
"It's absolutely possible for her, with a 25 and a quarter inch reach, to reach back to that rifle while it was propped up on that body pillow while she tilted her head back and all you need is three inches of barrel," said McCormac.
The prosecution said Kerrilee D'Avolio was the opposite of depressed; that she was excited about her weight loss, new, fit lifestyle and new fitness friends. Prosecutor, Josh Bauer, said even more absurd was the notion that Kerrilee D'Avolio killed herself in the way the defense suggests.
"Suicide is the last act of a person who no longer possesses the will to live. The will to draw another breath. The will to wake up tomorrow. Does it make any sense that such a person would be brimming with willpower enough to engage in the physicsal gymnastics necessary to shoot themselves in the back of the head with a rifle?" asked Bauer.
Jurors deliberated for about 40 minutes late Wednesday afternoon, without reaching a verdict. They'll resume deliberations Thursday morning at 9:30.