Marissa DeVault Trial Update: DeVault Gives Emotional Plea to Be Spared From Death Penalty [VIDEO]
Marissa DeVault, the Arizona woman convicted of using a hammer to viciously attack and kill her husband in 2009, gave an emotional plead to the jurors to spare her life from the death penalty.
Earlier this month, DeVault was convicted in Maricopa Country Superior Court of the first-degree murder of her husband, Dale Harrell, 34. The 36-year-old mother of three used a claw hammer to bash Harrell's head while he was sleeping in their home on Jan. 14, 2009. He suffered multiple skull fractures and died almost a month later in a hospice.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued that the former stripper killed her husband in order to collect his almost $300,000 life insurance policy and use it to pay off a $360,000 loan to her secret boyfriend. However, defense attorneys maintained that she was a battered wife who killed her spouse in self-defense.
After being found guilty, on April 14 the jury found one aggravating factor that would make her eligible for execution, however, it was unable to reach a verdict on a second aggravating factor. If no aggravating factors are found, then a judge will sentence DeVault to life in prison, either with or without parole, reports AZfamily.com.
On Thursday, DeVault delivered a tearful, 11-minute plea for her life, telling the jurors that she was sorry for killing her husband, reports My Fox Phoenix.
"I've always been willing to accept full responsibility for my actions on the morning of January 14th, there were so many confusing difficult emotions and actions that I'm horrified by the untimely demise of Dale," said DeVault.
DeVault also said that she is sorry for her actions and that she regrets the pain that she caused.
"I can't do anything more than say im sorry, I can't push a back button, I can't bring him back, I can't fix everything that was wrong, I don't even know where to go back to if I had this button. I truly regret what happened and I wish I could fix it," she said.
She went on to apologize to her late husband's family and her children.
"Dales family, my heart goes out to them, his mother and father have had to experience the worst loss in the world, the loss of a child and I knew there's nothing I can say that will ever ease their pain," she said.
"For our kids, there is absolutely no way to explain. To make sense of this situation and I'm truly sorry for that, I'm supposed to protect you and instead I hurt you ...and I brought them awful experiences and I failed them I raised you in a destructive house and this had just added and I don't expect forgiveness from them but I love them and I'm so sorry they have to look at themselves in the mirror everyday and remember because this carry this in them," she said.
In addition, DeVault apologized to the jury.
Watch the video below.
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