A Pasco County jury found Jackie Lee Braden Jr. guilty of first-degree murder today in the shooting deaths of his mother and stepfather, Sherrill and David Wright, both 54, who were found dead in their Shady Hills home in 2008.
Braden faces life in prison.
Braden's attorney called no witnesses and Braden chose not to take the witness stand at the double murder trial.
Braden, 40, told Circuit Judge Michael Andrews it was his decision not to testify. "I feel that, um, that I didn't have a defense as far as the witnesses I called," he said. "It doesn't make sense to be a one-man band here by myself."
His defense attorney, Dennis Watson, said the state failed to prove that Braden was the shooter, and that none of his alleged confessions – to a friend and to his ex-fiancé – were on tape.
"We have a lot of words put in Mr. Braden's mouth," Watson said.
In his closing statement, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis described a "cornucopia" of evidence – everything from the murder weapons to stolen drugs and cash.
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