Uploaded: Wednesday, August 1, 2001, 3:30 p.m.

Jury deliberates in Fitzhugh case

The 12 jurors in the murder trial of Kenneth Fitzhugh continued deliberating today.

Fitzhugh, 57, is accused of murdering his wife Kristine by beating her on the head and strangling her in their kitchen.

The prosecution alleges that Kenneth was motivated by the possibility that his wife was planning to tell their eldest son that his biological father was a longtime family friend. Witnesses for the prosecution testified that Kristine's body was placed at the bottom of the basement stairs to make it look as if she fell to her death.

The defense contends that an intruder broke into the home, that Kristine surprised him, tried to run up the basement stairs, was pulled back by the intruder and hit her head on a large bell in the basement.