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Jury gets case of son accused of murdering millionaire

(Court TV) -- A civil jury began deliberations Friday afternoon in the case of Charles "Chuck" Mayhew Jr., the troubled heir accused by his sister of murdering their millionaire father.

The panel filed out of Judge Carlos Lopez's Dallas courtroom at 1:05 p.m. after listening to closing arguments in which plaintiff's lawyers called the three-week trial a search for justice and the defense charged that the case was "about jealousy, greed and who's left in the will."

After police were unable to solve the 1998 shotgun slaying of Charles Mayhew Sr., his daughter, Amanda Mayhew Dealey, 52, filed a wrongful death suit against her younger brother, a chronic alcoholic with mental problems who lived off family money. Dealey alleged Chuck Mayhew, 50, killed their 81-year-old father because the elderly man had finally tired of his insults and threats and was cutting him off financially.

If 10 or more jurors find that Chuck Mayhew "more likely than not" committed the murder, they can exclude him from his share of an estimated $8 million inheritance and order him to pay millions more in damages.

But in her closing, Dealey's lawyer Rebecca Hamilton told jurors that money was largely irrelevant in the case. Chuck Mayhew, who testified that he has survived on Social Security disability payments since his father's death, "is virtually indigent," said Hamilton.

"No one is collecting any money in this case," she said, adding that an extended court battle over a property venture left the Mayhew family estate "consumed by debt."

Hamilton told jurors that a financial award, even if never paid out, was a symbol for justice. A verdict, she said, would send a message to Mayhew that "we know you did it" and to the local district attorney to continue pursuing a criminal case against him.

Dealey's case against her brother is circumstantial. A parade of family friends and business acquaintances testified that Chuck Mayhew was drinking heavily at the time of the killing and constantly berated his father with profane threats for money. Jurors also heard that shortly before his murder, Charles Mayhew Sr. started to change his life insurance policy to exclude his son, and was letting his daughter take over the family business.

Perhaps the most damaging testimony against Mayhew were audiotapes surreptitiously recorded by his father three years before his murder. In them, Mayhew threatens to kill his father in several long, expletive-ridden rants.

The plaintiff's lawyers also seized on Mayhew's shaky alibi for the night of the murder. A neighbor, Larry White, testified he saw a car Mayhew used near the dead man's home on February 28, 1998, but Mayhew claimed he was never there. He said he visited two drinking establishments and then drove his car around the countryside before returning to his home.

"Chuck has two and a half hours of unaccounted time," Hamilton said.

Chuck Mayhew's lawyer, William Hommel, however, argued that Dealey was using the trial as a chance for revenge. He said she envied Chuck Mayhew's close relationship with their father, and felt that she, as a responsible child and upstanding citizen, deserved the "favorite son" status.

"This is Amanda Dealey's chance to get even with Chuck Dealey after all these years," he said. "The problem is she doesn't have the proof to back up her case."

Mayhew, who testified in the trial, never denied a contentious relationship with his father, but said they always reconciled immediately after the fights. His lawyer derided the alleged motive, saying Mayhew didn't know about changes his father was making in his personal affairs.

"Not one witness said he knew anything about it," Hommel said. "It can't be a motive if he didn't know anything about it."