PHOENIX, ARIZONA : US prosecutors say the Thai man charged with killing six monks, a novice, a nun and a layman in a 1991 attack on a Buddhist temple in Phoenix was a methodical killer who pumped 17 rounds into the victims, mostly to the back of their heads.
Doody: Charged in temple massacre
But defence lawyers said the case against Johnathan A Doody, 17 years old at the time of the massacre, was flimsy, and depended only on the word of his partner in the attack on Wat Promkunaram.
Closing arguments were delivered yesterday in Mr Doody's third murder trial related to the massacre.
Mr Doody, who was born in Thailand and emigrated to the US, was sentenced at the 1993 trial to 281 years in prison, but a court ruled in 2011 that his confession was obtained illegally.
He claimed he went to the temple with an accomplice, but was outside when Allesandro "Alex" Garcia carried out all the killings.