WILKES-BARRE -- Closing arguments began Tuesday morning at Hugo Selenski's double murder trial, and fate of the accused killer may soon be in the hands of the jury.
Inside a courtroom up on the third floor, attorneys on both sides are giving it their last shot. It's their last opportunity to sum up the evidence, and convince the jury to convict or acquit.
Defense attorney Bernard Brown was the first to close, and right away, Hugo Selenski's attorneys attacked the credibility of prosecution witnesses and prosecution evidence.
Brown said, "We will admit he's not a choir boy. We're just saying he did not kill Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett."
Brown then attacked the prosecution's case by saying, "not a single solitary piece of forensic evidence, in all the flex ties, the duct tape, all the cars that they seize."
And Brown turned his attention to the prosecution's star witness, admitted accomplice Paul Weakley.
The defense attorney said Paul Weakley, "molded the facts to fit prosecution's case…a version a jury can believe."
Assistant district attorney Sam Sangueldoce then told the jury the main witness Paul Weakley should be believed because Weakley admitted investigator caught him about lies until the only thing that was left with the truth.
In his closing, Sanguedolce agreed that Weakley may not be the most credible person but told the jury, "we made this case even without Weakley's testimony."
Sanguedolce argued that the testimony from the witnesses who took the stand for the prosecution corroborated Weakley's story and proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He ended by reminding the jury about the victims, banging a rolling pin on wood in the courtroom to demonstrate how Selenski allegedly used that same rolling pin to beat Kerkowski.
Sanguldolce's final words to the jury were about the victims and their families saying, "they believed monsters didn't exist until Hugo Selenski showed them."
Hugo Selenski is charged with two counts of first degree murder. Prosecutors are trying to prove Selenski killed Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett in 2002. Their bodies were found buried in Selenski's Kingston Township home a year later. Prosecutors say Kerkowski had money, and Selenski wanted it. Fassett happened to be there when Selenski came looking for it.
In all, 30 witnesses testified for the prosecution.
The defense took only a few days, trying to poke holes in the case, trying to show key witnesses against Selenski had reason to lie.
After closing arguments, the judge gave the jury final instructions. Deliberations began after that.
The prosecution wants a first-degree murder conviction and the death penalty.
An acquittal does not mean freedom for Hugo Selenski. He's already serving a 32 to 65 year sentence for a violent home invasion and robbery in Monroe County.
