The verdict was reached yesterday by the jury for Jennifer's Kukla's trial. The jury spent two hours on Tuesday and just one hour on Wednesday in deliberations before coming out with a verdict of guilty.
30-year-old Kukla is guilty of first-degree murder charges, but also found mentally ill. She was not found legally insane though, which would have let her off the hook for going to prison.
Kukla killed her two children in February, 5-year-old Ashley and 8-year-old Alexandra because she said evil voices were telling her to do so.
When the verdict was read in court, Kukla showed no real emotion other than rocking in her seat, shrugging her shoulders and smiling at her relatives before she was taken out of the courtroom.
The prosecutor for the case, Eric Smith, said even with the three psychologists testimonies that Kukla was insane, the jury had a hard time swallowing the defense's insanity plea.
"Those voices that she claimed that were in head telling her to kill her children and herself. She said I wasn't going to do that. She chose not to kill herself. She made choices. In addition, when police showed up she said 'I am going to hell for what I did,'" said Smith.
Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel spoke of the scene that officers witnessed at the home of Kukla after she slashed the throats of her girls. The officers had a hard time dealing with the graphic nature of the crime against helpless children. He said the officers were shaken and found it hard to sleep after this particular crime scene. Kukla also stabbed three of the family's pet dogs and their pet mouse to death.
Kukla will now spend life in prison, but will be treated for her mental illness while there.
Mom Found Guilty For Killing Her Girls
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