"We the jury find the defendant, Liz Carroll, guilty of murder."
Liz Carroll heard that word "guilty" six more times from judge Robert Ringland Wednesday in Clermont County Court.
Carroll bowed her head and cried as the other convictions were read: involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault, and three counts of endangering a child.
It took the jury about five hours to reach the decision.
Carroll is convicted of murdering her foster son, Marcus Fiesel, last August. She bound him in a blanket and duct tape, leaving him in a closet to die in her Clermont County home, while she went out of town.
Carroll's mother sat behind her in court, and let out gut-wrenching cries after hearing her daughter will be going to prison.
Carroll's sentencing is set for 11:00 a.m. Thursday.
The murder conviction itself carries a mandatory 15 years to life in prison.
The judge has some leeway on the other charges. He can order them to be served at the same time as the prison sentence, or after that prison term expires.
The prosecution has strong feelings on when and how Liz Carroll should be released.
"I don't know if she'll ever get what she deserves," said Mark Piepmeyer, prosecutor. "But hopefully tomorrow the judge will make sure she gets enough time that when she does get out, it will be on a gurney."
Carroll's attorney had little to say after the verdict was read, offering just a few brief comments.
He said an appeal is nearly certain, and seemed to scoff at the suggestion it was only considered an "option."
"Well, you don't not appeal," said Greg Cohen, defense attorney.
"Was not putting Liz on the stand a mistake?" asked Local 12's Rich Jaffe.
Cohen replied, "I can't comment anymore."
One of the big questions we're left with is why didn't Liz Carroll take the stand, and would it have made a difference in the minds of the jury?
Jury foreman Paul Brownstead released the following statement to Local 12:
"We were ready and wanted to hear Liz's case. But we feel her defense was unimpressive and disappointing. If Liz Carroll was not guilty, we were fine with that. I feel sorry for Liz that Mr. Cohen didn't put up a fight. Our verdict came from her grand jury statement, not from testimony from Amy Baker."
Local 12's legal analyst says it appears the defense tried to paint Liz Carroll as an abused wife trying to keep her family together, but Carroll herself never gave the theory voice.
"The only way the jury was ever going to get that kind of feeling was for Liz to get up there and convince them of that," said Stewart Matthews, Local 12 legal analyst. "She didn't do that, and that's why I think we got the verdict in the relatively short time we did."
While Liz Carroll never took the stand in her defense, she did speak in court Wednesday. It wasn't a planned moment. She interrupted assistant prosecutor Daniel Breyer during his closing argument, with a curious comment.
"That was Marcus Fiesel, and what was left of him would fit in this cup," said Daniel Breyer, Clermont Co. assistant prosecutor. "And who did it? She (Liz Carroll) did. And you know they say, you wouldn't treat a dog like that, and you know what, she wouldn't. She took the dog with her. She took the dog with her."
"The dog was alive," responded Liz Carroll.
You can watch the sentencing of Liz Carroll live on Local 12 and here on Local12.com, starting at 11:00 a.m. Thursday.
