The trial in South Dakota of a deaf, black lesbian accused of murdering a rival and dismembering her with a chainsaw has shocked the rural midwestern US state.
Daphne Wright, 43, could become the first woman sent to death row in South Dakota, which has not executed a prisoner in more than 60 years.
Wright is accused of kidnapping and murdering a heterosexual deaf woman, Darlene VanderGiesen, 42, whom she thought was spending too much time with her girlfriend.
Prosecutors said a vengeful Wright persuaded VanderGiesen to meet her and to enter her car on February 1, 2006. Wright then killed her with either a blow to the head or by suffocation, according to prosecutors.
After two days spent scrounging up money to buy a chainsaw, Wright chopped up the body at the knees and navel and disposed of the pieces, prosecutor Dave Nelson said in opening statements last week.
"The reason for this murder? Jealousy," he told jurors.
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