There will be no verdict in the Pat Tinsley trial today. Although testimony will continue after lunch, Circuit Judge Rene Williams has already told witnesses to clear their schedules for next Thursday, Sept. 29.
Witnesses were told they could leave for the day because this afternoon's testimony will be solely from a state police detective on the stand when the court recessed for lunch just before noon.
The trial has taken longer than anticipated, Judge Williams said. This afternoon, the jury is scheduled to watch a three-and-a-half-hour video from a state police interview with Tinsley. That interview was conducted at Post 2 headquarters last October.
Tinsley, 50, is accused of conspiring along with his wife to burn their home on Aug. 1, 2010 in order to collect the insurance money. Tinsley's wife, 47-year-old Glenda Tinsley, died in that fire at their two-story Wilson Farm Road home.
Judge Williams said other commitments of her own prevent the trial from continuing early next week. There's some indication that testimony will end today around 5 p.m.
Most of the evidence presented this morning was photographs and an audio recording taken by state police. Those were entered into evidence along with the testimony from Det. Scott Smith of the state police, who took most of the pictures and the audio recording of an interview he and another detective had with the defendant on Aug. 12, 2010, less than two weeks after the fire.
The only other witness this morning was Kenny Templeton, son-in-law of Glenda Tinsley. He testified about a conversation he had with his mother-in-law more than a year prior to the fire. He said she tried to hire him to set fire to the house.
The Crittenden Press Online will continue to post updates on the trial. Next week's printed edition will include a detailed wrap up of evidence and testimony from the first two days of the trial.
