BY KRISTEN DELGUZZI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Linda Khriss slumped on the witness stand last Friday at her aggravated murder trial.
(Yoni Pozner photo)
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With its allegations of well-paid hit men, corrupt police and polygamy, the case against Linda Khriss reads like the script of a drama with international intrigue.
But in closing arguments Thursday, attorneys for both sides said the two-week murder trial in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court more closely resembled a B movie.
Prosecutors said the defense theory of the case -- that police tricked Mrs. Khriss into admitting a role in the death of her husband -- was straight out of a low-budget, low-quality flick. The defense countered the state's case is heavy on assumptions and light on evidence.
What is not lacking in the case is drama.
In her third major outburst of the trial, Mrs. Khriss began sobbing and screaming as assistant prosecutor Steven Tolbert summarized the state's theory of the case: that the 38-year-old Cheviot woman paid someone $2,000 to kill her husband, Maher Khrais.
"Why, why?" she started sobbing. "Please find who did this. Please find him. . . . Take my life if you have to. Please find him."
As deputies ushered her past the jury and out of court, her cries continued.
"Don't stand here, Mr. Tolbert, and lie," she wailed. "I beg you. Please, please."
She was kept out of the courtroom for several minutes and was allowed to return only after promising Judge Ann Marie Tracey she would maintain her composure.
Mrs. Khriss is charged with one count of aggravated murder and could be sentenced to death if convicted. Jurors deliberated about five hours Thursday without reaching a verdict. They are to resume this morningafter being sequestered for the night.
They must decide whether Mrs. Khriss hired Ahmad Fawzi Issa, an employee at her family's Save Way II grocery in East Westwood, as the middleman in the murder-for-hire case.
Prosecutors say Mr. Issa then hired a store customer, Andre Miles, to shoot Mr. Khrais. Authorities claim Mrs. Khriss wanted her husband dead because he was going to leave her for a second wife in Jordan. Mr. Khrais was shot to death in the parking lot of the store Nov. 22. His brother, Ziad Khreis, also was killed.
Mr. Issa and Mr. Miles are awaiting trials of their own.
Mr. Miles testified against Mrs. Khriss, saying he was told by Mr. Issa that Mrs. Khriss wanted her husband dead. It is among the state's key pieces of evidence.
"When you're the person who pays to have it done, you're not going to be there, and there's not going to be any physical evidence," Mr. Tolbert said.
Defense attorney David Scacchetti said Mr. Miles' testimony is irrelevant because he never spoke directly with Mrs. Khriss. "We don't know that anyone was behind Ahmad Issa," he said. "Issa could have been lying to protect someone else."
Mr. Scacchetti told jurors to disbelieve Mrs. Khriss' taped statement, in which she admits to hiring someone to beat up -- but not kill -- her husband. He says she falsely confessed because police told her it would help build their case against Mr. Issa.
Prosecutors said the claim of police misconduct is "vile."
