Gordon Weaver's fate now in the hands of the judge

Now it's the judge's turn.

After listening to eight days of testimony and almost three hours of closing arguments Thursday, Ramsey County District Judge Salvador Rosas must decide whether Gordon D. Weaver is guilty or not guilty of two counts of second-degree unintentional felony murder in the death of his wife, Jean Weaver. Her burned and bloodied body was found in the laundry room of their house in White Bear Lake on Oct. 16, 1999. The charges carry the underlying felonies of arson and third-degree assault.

According to documents and testimony, Jean and Gordon Weaver argued that morning, either about who was going to their son Sean's soccer game, as Weaver said, or about the fact that Jean Weaver wanted a divorce, as prosecutors claim. Weaver, 52, said he pushed his wife with his forearm and she stumbled backward and got tangled in a collapsible clothes rack. She fell, hitting her head against a concrete laundry tub, which caused a skull fracture and brain injury. Weaver said she wasn't breathing and he couldn't find a pulse. Believing she was dead, he said, he set the house on fire to destroy it and "everything in it."

He was free on $300,000 bail when he fled, only to be found more than four years later living under a false name in Oregon. A jury found him guilty of second-degree unintentional murder in 2005, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed that conviction and ordered a new trial.

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Dr. Susan Roe, who performed the autopsy on Jean Weaver, said it was her opinion that the victim died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The head injury was a contributing factor but did not cause her death, Roe said.

Prosecutor Eric Leonard argued Thursday that Weaver's actions and the evidence do not support the contention that Jean Weaver's death was "simply a tragic accident."

It doesn't matter whether Jean Weaver died from carbon monoxide or the head injury because Weaver was responsible for both, Leonard said.

Defense attorney Joe Friedberg, however, argued that the entire case comes down to a question of law, which is why Weaver chose to have it heard by a judge rather than a jury.

Friedberg told Rosas that he must find a causal link between Jean Weaver's death and the underlying felonies to find him guilty of either.

Medical experts who testified for the defense said it wasn't possible to tell whether the fire or the head injury killed Jean Weaver.

Friedberg said Weaver is guilty at most of arson and second-degree manslaughter.

Rosas said he will issue both the verdicts and the required findings of fact and conclusions of law in 14 days.

If Weaver is convicted, the judge will then be asked to decide if the defendant acted "with particular cruelty," which could lengthen the sentence.

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992