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By Associated PressClosing arguments conclude seven days of testimony in the Sarasota case that got worldwide attention.
SARASOTA - A mountain of evidence points to the guilt of a former mechanic charged with kidnapping, raping and killing Carlie Brucia, a prosecutor said in closing arguments of Joseph Smith's murder trial Wednesday.
Jurors have heard or seen taped jailhouse conversations of Smith talking about the crimes, including a confession he gave his brother, DNA evidence linking him to a semen stain on Carlie's shirt, and security camera images of a tattooed man in a mechanic's uniform grabbing Carlie by the wrist in a carwash parking lot and leading her away, prosecutor Craig Schaeffer said.
Carlie's Feb. 1, 2004, disappearance as she walked home from a friend's house attracted worldwide attention because of the camera images, which were broadcast repeatedly on television. Her half-naked body was found more than four days later on a church property.
"All point to Joseph Smith as the person who committed these crimes," Schaeffer said.
And he said Smith should be convicted of first-degree murder because he planned the crime.
When Smith saw Carlie running down Bee Ridge Road, Schaeffer said, he pulled his borrowed station wagon into the carwash to cut her off. He drove away with her, bound her hands, sexually assaulted her, and finally, choked her to death with a thin cord around her throat, an act that took a minute or more.
Jurors were expected to begin deliberating this morning. Smith, 39, could face the death penalty if convicted.
Smith declined to testify, and his public defender, Adam Tebrugge, waived his right to make a closing argument.
Later Wednesday, outside the courthouse, Tebrugge conceded it was an unusual strategy but said a closing argument from him would serve no purpose.
"I believe that I tried the best case possible," he said. "I believe that we got all the information out, that we told the truth."
During seven days of testimony, prosecutors built their case using the camera images; the testimony of Smith's brother, John, who told jurors his sibling confessed and then told him where the body was; and forensics experts who linked Smith's DNA with the semen stain.
A medical examiner told jurors that marks on Carlie's body indicated she was bound, dragged and strangled from behind. An FBI code breaker deciphered an encrypted letter Smith wrote his brother saying he had left Carlie's clothes and backpack in four trash bins. In the jailhouse tapes, Smith talked of confessing a priest and being on cocaine when he committed the crime.
Defense attorneys faulted investigators for ruling out other suspects, raised questions about the reliability of an FBI lab, and tried to cast doubt on the motives of Smith's brother.
On Wednesday, Tebrugge played a videotape of John Smith asking an FBI agent about reward money. John Smith received none of the posted $50,000 reward. He testified earlier that he inquired about it because Joseph had asked him to use the money to set up a trust fund for Joseph's three daughters.
The defense also on Wednesday called a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and two tree service workers who testified to seeing unidentified individuals near the church property where Carlie's body eventually was found.
The Bradenton Herald contributed to this report.