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Atlanta Attorney Tex McIver Found Guilty Of Killing Wife
A jury decided that Atlanta Attorney Tex McIver is guilty of felony murder in the shooting death of his wife Diane in 2016.
Prominent Atlanta attorney Claud “Tex” McIver was found guilty on Monday of killing his wife Diane in 2016 and he will be likely be spending the rest of his life behind bars.
A jury found McIver, 75, guilty of felony murder, which comes with a mandatory life sentence, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A felony murder is described as a killing that is treated as a murder because even though it is unintended, it happened through the course of another felony. He was also convicted of aggravated assault, possession of firearm and witness influencing.
The jury did acquit McIver of malice murder, a charge which means that the murder was intentional.
There was no visible response from McIver as the verdict was read.
Instead, he looked stoic. Then, he put his hands behind his back, allowing deputies to handcuff and lead him out of the courtroom and into the jail.
It’s not clear when his sentencing hearing will be.
The jury grappled with making a decision as evident by the fact that they were deadlocked just earlier in the day on Monday. Overall, they deliberated for 29 hours over five days before coming to a decision, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Before closing arguments in the trial, the judge did tell jurors they could also consider involuntary manslaughter as an alternative to murder charges, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta. Obviously, the jurors opted not to do that.
At a press conference after the verdict, Prosecutor Clint Rucker said the jurors have spoken.
"They told me they were very, very confident in their verdict," he said.
There was never any debate over whether or not Tex killed his wealthy wife. He never denied shooting her but claimed that it was an accident which happened as a friend was driving the couple through a “bad neighborhood.” In the past, he said he shot his wife after he fell asleep with a gun in his hand, a gun he retrieved because he claimed he felt threatened by the area they were driving through.
[Photo: Fulton County Sheriff's Office]
