KNOXVILLE, TN—Reaching a verdict Thursday after several hours of deliberation, a Knox County Circuit Court jury reportedly found a defendant in a homicide trial guilty of murdering his wife and children, but admitted they get it. “After carefully weighing all the evidence in this case, we find the defendant guilty on all counts, but it’s not like we don’t see where he was coming from,” said foreperson Franklin Cault, admitting that while there was no doubt the suspect committed a terrible crime and deserves a life sentence, the killing of his wife, 10-year-old son, and 8-year-old daughter sort of makes sense, all things considered. “The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that these killings were premeditated, we’re not arguing with that—but, you know, given the circumstances, it’s pretty understandable. We certainly condemn his horrific actions, however, we’re not going to sit here and act like we wouldn’t have done the same thing if we were in his shoes.” The judge then reportedly issued a mandatory life sentence without parole even though he acknowledged the defendant’s family probably “had it coming.”

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