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Jury rules former FSU student guilty of killing mother, stepfather

Nicole Nachtman was convicted on two first-degree, premeditated murder charges in the 2015 murders.
Credit: Pool camera

TAMPA, Fla. — The jury deciding the case of Nicole Nachtman deliberated long into the night. As of midnight, they had spent 11 hours trying to come up with a verdict.

Nachtman faced two first-degree, premeditated murder charges after being accused of shooting and killing her mother and stepfather, Myriam and Robert Dienes. Law enforcement said they were both found dead from gunshot wounds in their Carrollwood home on Aug. 20, 2015.

RELATED: Nicole Nachtman found guilty of murdering her stepfather and mother

Nachtman, who was 21 at the time, originally claimed she was at Florida State University in Tallahassee when the murders happened. The school told detectives her FSU ID had not been used in the previous seven days. 

BACKGROUND: Defense for former FSU student accused of killing parents continues to claim insanity

MORE: 3 witnesses cleared to testify after speculation of possible mistrial in Nachtman murder case

MORE: Nachtman’s former roommate testifies about her obsession with the Frozen character ‘Elsa’

MORE: 'I'm going to miss you, Joey': Nachtman's brother testifies she admitted to the shootings

MORE: 'She thought God was protecting her': Mental health expert says Nachtman is 'delusional'

Two of the defense's mental health experts argued Thursday that Nachtman has schizophrenia and was experiencing psychosis at the time of the murders while the state psychologist says Nachtman does not fit the criteria for schizophrenia.

THURSDAY'S COVERAGE: 'The trauma is severe': Psychologist says abuse may have led Nachtman to kill parents

The prosection's closing arguments

The state began its argument with the simple statement, "I didn't think I could do it, I shot Bob." 

This statement came from Nachtman's reported confession to her brother, Joseph Carey, over the phone.

The prosecution continued with the outline of the crime scene, saying Nachtman shot Bob, or Robert Dienes, so she could lay a trap for her mother, Myriam Dienes.

"The definition of premeditation - means killing after consciously do so," the prosecution addressed the jury with. 

The prosecution then went into Myriam checking into a hotel in Jacksonville for her job as a Navy captain on August 18, 2015, leaving her husband Robert and her daughter Nicole at their home in Carrollwood. 

"[Nachtman] made the decision to get the .380 caliber pistol - Robert's own gun," the prosecution said. "Nicole Nachtman points a gun, kills Robert execution-style right through his ball cap." 

Nachtman went on to start the cleaning process, the state said, which included "extensive efforts" to clean the murder scene with bleach, a sponge and a mop bucket. 

The prosection added Nachtman had to make the decision to drag Robert's 6'3", 200-pound body to a bedroom, wrap it in a comforter and continue her cleaning efforts.

The state said Nachtman then put the plaid shirt Robert was last seen wearing along with the baseball cap in the washing machine.

"She made active decisions to clean up any trace of the murder she just committed," the prosecution said.

After killing Robert sometime after Aug. 18, the prosecution added, Nachtman made phone calls and received emails from FSU about her residency. She found out about her residency 20 hours before she killed her mother, the prosecution said.

The prosecution said Nachtman even tried to check Robert's email and tried to change his password so her mother would not get suspicious as evidenced by the search history. 

Nachtman moved her car over a mile and a half away to a park in between the two murders before waiting overnight and keeping the gun on her to await her mother's arrival. the state said.

The state detailed the movement of Nachtman's car using the car's GPS system, along with playing audio from the detective's first call and Eric Lehr's first call with Nachtman following the murders. 

The first thing she claimed was that she was in Tallahassee "a day or two or so," the state argues, and told Lehr, "Mom doesn't get along with as many people as you think," along with, "Mom and Bob are always at each other's throats."

The prosecution claimed Nachtman had to make the conscious decision of not acting like she's fine, which the state claimed showed she was not disorganized or illogical in her thoughts. 

"Those are the thoughts of a murderer," the prosecution claimed. 

The prosection then went into the recollection of the phone call between Nachtman and her brother with her saying, "I did it, I shot them, I didn't think I could do it, but I shot Bob," and "You can call me a beast, but don't call me a monster." 

Nachtman was proud of herself for the murders and did killed the stepfather because he got in the way, the state claimed. They added they are not "unsympathetic" to mental illness, but that the mental illness did not lead to Nachtman murdering her stepfather and mother. 

"She is guilty of first-degree, premeditated murder," the state rested its closing argument with. 

The defense's closing arguments

The defense outlined the psychological makeup of Nachtman's life and childhood to paint what they said paints a "more complete picture" of her life, showing a billboard of the contrast of a happy photo of Nachtman as a child next to Nachtman's mugshot photo. 

Family members' and psychologists' testimonies and depositions were used by the defense which the defense claims amounted to the psychological abuse of Nachtman and her developing a "severe" mental illness.

"Do happy and perfectly normal children and college students wake up and say I'm going to shoot my parents today for absolutely no reason?" the defense asked of the jury.

The defense then went into the turmoil between Nachtman's mother and biological father, along with Nachtman being ripped from the father's life at the age of three. The defense then claimed Joseph Carey "ran away from home" when the family lived in Virginia to live in Florida with his grandmother to "escape the chaos." 

"He left his three-year-old sister to fend for herself," the defense claimed.

A child needs a safe environment, not damage to the self-esteem, the defense said. The defense then claimed there was no emotional connection between Myriam and Nachtman and no text message proof of Myriam telling her she loved her.

A video of Nachtman's interview was recalled which the defense claimed "speaks for itself" in what the defense says is Nachtman "reliving" the abuse from her mother. 

The defense then highlighted the use of "don't tell mom" as a common theme around the family with Nachtman, along with the defense's claim of Myriam not listening to the family's concerns. 

Battered child syndrome was reintroduced as Nachtman "looking like a battered woman" at the time of her arrest, including claiming she was unkempt, disheveled, smelled and was talking to herself and to "people who were not there."

"When determining and justifying the use of deadly force - we have an individual who jumped out of a bedroom window to avoid seeing her mother," the defense said. 

The defense then brought up Robert again as another person who should have protected Nachtman from her mother but did not. 

The defense's mental health experts both claimed she suffered from schizophrenia and "someone who is not in their right mind" at the time of the murders, including the fact she stayed with the corpse of her stepfather's for more than 20 hours.

The defense ended its argument with a recalling of the interview of Nachtman where she explained her love and "obsession" of Elsa the "Frozen" character as demonstrating Nachtman was not of sane mind. 

The defense claimed there is no precise, clear evidence to convict Nachtman of premeditated murder.

The state's rebuttal

"Let me be clear, this is a case not of Myriam versus Nicole Nachtman, it's the state versus Nachtman," the state introduced with its rebuttal to the defense.

The prosecution rebutted the defense's claims that the state painted a "perfect, easy life" for Nachtman. 

"[Myriam] was not a perfect parent and made mistakes - it does not give Nachtman the right to kill her," the prosecution said. 

The prosecution admitted Myriam did not appear to be loving but said Myriam "did the best she could," which they based on Dr. Lazarou's testimony. 

The state argued children grow up in foster care and don't grow up to kill people even when they're not provided nourishment. 

"It doesn't give you a right to kill people just because you want to," the state said. 

The prosecution said it was not excusing any of the alleged abuse by Myriam, but also said it did not rise to the level of battered child syndrome. 

Myriam was not fat-shaming Nachtman, the state claimed, and said Myriam was concerned for Nachtman. The state included Nachtman was over 18 when she got the liposuction and could have said no to it along with leaving the situation. 

"She chose to stay - the trap [for her mother] worked perfectly," the prosecution said. 

Robert stood in the way of her ultimate goal, the state added. 

Nachtman was "on the spectrum" of mental illness, the state claimed, but said it was not severe and did not make her act in psychosis. 

The state used Nachtman's trip to London and Nachtman's first roommate to claim Nachtman was able to care for herself, but was lazy in cleaning after herself. 

The state added Nachtman cleaned the blood "just fine" and added "a lot of people cosplay and dress up," in reference to Nachtman's alleged obsession with Elsa from the "Frozen" movie. 

"Lots of people who have mental illnesses don't kill people, because they know it's wrong," the state said in reference to Nachtman. 

Nachtman admitted the murder was wrong and even talked to Myriam after she killed Robert, the state claimed. 

"She knew what she was doing," the prosecution said. 

Nachtman also knew she was in trouble and knew the consequences of her actions and said goodbye to the people most important to her, including her best friend, brother, and uncle, the state claimed. 

The state cautioned the jury should be careful in ruling in favor of Nachtman because they "feel sorry for her" or are "angry" with Myriam and her parenting. 

“You believe what she did and knew what she did was wrong, your verdict should be guilty as charged," the state concluded its rebuttal with. "This is not the work of someone who didn’t know what she was doing – this is the work of a person with a mindset to rid their burden – someone who tried to cover their tracks."

The judge went on to instruct the jury to what their discussion and ruling should be focused on. 

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