PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – John Jonchuck, the man accused of murdering his daughter by dropping her off a bridge in 2015, was found guilty Florida.
Jonchuck was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after he was found guilty for murdering his daughter, Phoebe Jonchuck.
His defense team argued that Jonchuck was insane when he dropped Phoebe off the bridge in Saint Petersburg to her death.
However, jurors did not believe he was insane at the time, ultimately deciding that he knew what he was doing and that Phoebe’s death was premeditated.
The jury in Pinellas County reached the unanimous verdict after 14 days of testimony and six hours of deliberations.
Legal expert Roger Futerman said, “The more I thought about it, the more I thought guilty the likely verdict, first-degree premeditated murder, I thought that was the likely verdict having considered all the evidence and thought about it. The statement that Jonchuck made that the state put as their first statement in closing seems like a powerful statement and they did a good job by making that the fore front and, you know, it’s very difficult facts to overcome. No matter how jurors say they can set aside what happened, those are tough facts.”
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