January 15, 2014 - 2:29 PM
WASHINGTON - A jury in Washington has begun deliberating the fate of a German man charged with killing his 91-year-old socialite wife.
The case went to the jury Wednesday afternoon after hours of closing arguments from lawyers for both sides.
Forty-nine-year-old Albrecht Muth is charged in the August 2011 beating and strangulation death of his German wife, journalist and socialite Viola Drath. His lawyers have said he's innocent and there's no evidence connecting him to her death.
Muth did not attend the trial in Superior Court. He participated instead via videoconference after doctors said his self-imposed bouts of starvation made him too weak to appear.
A judge said the trial could proceed anyway. Jurors heard at trial from witnesses including Drath's daughters.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014