Christina's Story: Newspaper Articles

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Christina's Story - Newspaper Articles

The following links take you to various articles in Christina's story as it appeared in the South Florida media.

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*In Loving Memory Of* Christina Diane Holt May 23, 1987 - September 16, 1994 "Beautiful Child who has found love from the angels...RIP..."	(Not her actual headstone)
These pages contain all of the articles from the Palm Beach Post and The Sun-Sentinel throughout the years.

In Court (11/13/96)
Zile Sheds No Tears On Stand (11/13/96)
John Zile Testifies in His Own Defense (11/13/96)
Dealing With The Anger And Sorrow (11/13/96)
Zile: Stepdaughter Became A Problem, Was Too 'Sassy' (11/13/96)
Witness Bolsters Account Of Child's Death (11/14/96)
Defense Witness: Death Accidental (11/14/96)
Defense Objects To Witness' Claim Zile Used Racial Slur (11/15/96)
Closing Arguments In John Zile Trial Are Today (11/15/96)
Zile Lawyers Urge Jury To Consider Manslaughter Charge (11/16/96)

IN COURT
The Palm Beach Post
November 13, 1996

BARTOW - John Zile, sounding less grief-stricken and more combative than he did at his first murder trial, told jurors at his retrial Tuesday that his stepdaughter's death was an accident and that he had tried frantically to revive the girl after she suffered some type of seizure. "She was staring right through me," Zile recalled of the night in September 1994 that Christina Holt died.

ZILE SHEDS NO TEARS ON STAND
The Palm Beach Post
November 13, 1996
Author: VAL ELLICOTT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

John Zile, sounding less grief-stricken and more combative than he did at his first murder trial, told jurors at his retrial Tuesday that his stepdaughter's death was an accident and that he had tried frantically to revive the girl after she suffered some type of seizure.

"She was staring right through me," Zile recalled of the night in September 1994 that Christina Holt died. "She started clawing at herself. She was biting down on her tongue. I started to panic."
Under questioning by Craig Wilson, the attorney leading his defense, Zile sought to portray himself as a loving but occasionally inept parent frustrated by his 7-year-old stepdaughter's increasingly serious behavior problems.

Repeatedly, he reminded jurors, "This was all new to me. I had no idea what to do. I was doing the best I could. Nothing worked."

Zile, who is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse, did not weep Tuesday, as he had on May 8 while testifying at his first trial.

He once complained that frequent objections by prosecutor Jill Estey were hampering his testimony.

Later, on cross-examination, Zile refused to answer a question about whether Christina's death had distressed him so much that he could not have sex with his wife.

"I don't think that's any of your business," he told Estey. At other times, he answered the prosecutor's questions even after Wilson had called out an objection.

Christina died in their Singer Island apartment while Zile was disciplining her for a variety of behavior problems, including what he described as the girl's refusal to give a truthful account of an incident in which Christina said she had been sexually molested in Maryland before moving in with the Ziles.

"At this point I was pretty frustrated," Zile told jurors. "I did the asinine thing of flicking my fingers on her lips. When she cried out, I put my hand over her mouth for about five seconds."

Christina then defecated in her pajamas, Zile said.

Zile said he cleaned his stepdaughter up, then asked her "why she had done that." When she answered, "I felt like it," he spanked her. He said that led to the seizure.

In his Oct. 28, 1994, statement to police, Zile said he covered Christina's mouth after she defecated, contradicting his testimony Tuesday. The issue is important because prosecutors say it was the act of covering Christina's mouth that killed her. Under the version Zile offered Tuesday, his daughter was still alive.

JOHN ZILE TESTIFIES IN HIS OWN DEFENSE
Sun-Sentinel
November 13, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

The Christmas before Christina Holt was reunited with her mother in South Florida, John Zile sent his stepdaughter a homemade videotape welcoming her to the family.

"I love you, you love me. We're one big happy family," sang the purple dinosaur Barney on the videotape played for jurors on Tuesday as Zile took the witness stand in his own defense.
The Zile family did grow bigger with the addition of Christina in June 1994, along with his two sons and his wife pregnant with another child, Zile testified.

But the happiness of the reunion was short-lived, he said.

By Sept. 16, 1994, three months after her move to South Florida, Christina was dead.

Prosecutors say the child died at the hands of her abusive stepfather. Zile said her death was an accident, that she had a convulsion and choked.

The reunion was stressful from the start, Zile told jurors. His wife, Pauline, became pregnant after they had already agreed to have Christina join them.

During nearly seven hours on the witness stand, Zile said that because of Christina, they terminated their parental rights and their third child was adopted. Christina was Pauline Zile's daughter from her first marriage. The Ziles also terminated their parental rights to the two boys, who were adopted together, after their arrest. Pauline Zile was convicted last year of first-degree murder for failing to protect her child and was sentenced to life in prison.

"My wife's a waitress. I'm a cook. We didn't have a lot of money," Zile testified. "It's a hard decision. We did it to make room for Christina."

But he denied any anger over sacrificing his child for Christina.

"I loved Christina very much. I miss Christina very much. I can't tell you the remorse and sorrow I feel for what happened," Zile said.

Still, feeling responsible that he couldn't save the girl, who Zile says had a seizure and choked, doesn't make him guilty of first-degree murder, he said.

Unlike his testimony at his first trial in May that ended in a hung jury and a mistrial, Zile did not cry on the witness stand.

Zile's testimony on Tuesday was similiar to his first trial. Point by point, he addressed the evidence and witnesses presented by the prosecution, appearing more deliberate and firm than in his first trial.

After Christina started school in August 1994 and realized she was not just visiting her mother for the summer, she became homesick and began behaving badly, Zile said.

It started with small infractions, such as hiding a teacher's note about bad conduct and pouring a bottle of shampoo down the drain and blaming her half-brother, Zile said.

Then it progressed to wild and changing allegations of sexual abuse by various relatives in Maryland and fondling her youngest half-brother, then 3, in a closet, Zile said.

As her behavior worsened, his punishment became more severe, Zile testified.

At first, he had her write a hundred times she would not lie and sent her to her room. Then he resorted to spankings with his hand and a belt, Zile said.

But unlike his Oct. 28, 1994, police statement, in which Zile seemed obsessed about the sex-related incidents, Zile testified that he was concerned with the gamut of problems with his stepdaughter. The prosecution's theory was that Zile was worried that he, too, would be accused of sexual abuse.

"It was the totality of everything," Zile said. On cross-examination, Assistant State Attorney Jill Estey asked Zile why he chose to punish rather than seek help for a homesick little girl who he suspected was sexually abused.

Zile said he was afraid to report the wrong suspect because her stories kept changing.

He said he didn't call 911 when the child died during his life-saving attempts because he panicked.

And he said he covered up the death with a hoax that the girl was kidnapped at the Swap Shop west of Fort Lauderdale for fear that his two sons would be taken away, Zile said.

"I have no excuse for it. It was a horrendous thing to do," Zile said of the coverup. "It just snowballed. Once it started up, it was too late."

Zile is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. During his testimony Zile also explained why his October 1994 taped police statement sounded detached and dispassionate. He testified that he was emotionally drained and had not slept for 60 hours when the statement was recorded at around 3:30 a.m.

DEALING WITH THE ANGER AND SORROW
Sun-Sentinel
November 13, 1996
Author: JOHN GROGAN

The house is ordinary in every way, a squat concrete bungalow with a palm tree in front, like any other on the block.

Except for the teddy bears and carnations piled high by strangers against the chain-link fence, the exterior gives no hint at what horrors happened within.
An open prayer book is wedged in the fence, with handwritten words reminding the world that all children matter, including two sisters whose only home was a car shared with their mother.

A little girl stands silently and sprinkles her precious stash of Halloween candy onto the grass, a gift to the two dead girls she never knew. She turns to her mother, tugs on her shirt and says, "If I ever see that man, I'm going to kick him so hard."

That man, as all of South Florida now knows, is Howard Steven Ault, career pedophile and sex predator whose lengthy record was not enough to keep him off the streets. He has confessed, police say, to kidnapping and killing the two girls, 11 and 7, one of whom he is accused of raping.

He is as ordinary as the house he lived in. Paunchy, balding, someone you would not look twice at in the grocery store.

"What's a murderer look like?" asked neighbor Dean Harwager, who sometimes spoke with Ault. "Like you and me."

Grief mixed with outrage

Even as Alicia Jones and DeAnn Mu'min were buried on Tuesday, the people still came to this now-shuttered house. To gawk, to cry, to pray. And more than anything, to seethe.

Who can begrudge them their outrage?

Who can blame them for wondering why this man was still on the street after at least three alleged assaults on children?

The system knew he was dangerous. Put him on strict community control, listed him in a registry of sexual predators. Required daily check-ins with his parole officer.

A lot of good it did. The system failed, it is clear. It failed those two sweet-faced girls. And it failed every parent and every child who must now greet the new day with a little less confidence, a little more suspicion.

When things fall apart, anarchy rises to fill the void. So it was no surprise when an angry group burst into Ault's home over the weekend, sprinkled gasoline and dropped a match. It didn't matter that he was just a renter and the burning punished no one but the landlady and his neighbors who had to evacuate.

No one mingling at the makeshift shrine condones the torching, but everyone can understand the frustration behind it.

The urge for revenge

"I'm not for the death penalty," says Julia Arana, 41, of Plantation, who has come with her children. "But if I had the chance, I'd fry him myself."

Ault was allowed back on the street one too many times, and now civilized people struggle with the urge for revenge. We're ashamed for thinking it, but we think it nonetheless: Go ahead, let him out one more time; he'll never hurt another child again.

Deborah Henry, a mother of three who lives in the neighborhood, says she has struggled to understand how anyone could hurt two innocent children. She concludes finally: "Some people just wake up in the morning to do evil. That's all I can come up with."

The women talk about the racial strain sparked by the killings of two black children with a white suspect in custody.

But then a glimmer of hope amid despair, a hint that goodness may triumph. A group of strangers - white, black and Hispanic - kneel before the makeshift shrine and grasp hands. Together they pray for the lost children. For Jimmy Ryce and Adam Walsh; for Tiffany Sessions and Christina Holt; for the five Gainesville student. And now for Alicia and DeAnn.

"You're safe now," someone says.

Yes, finally. Safe at last.

John Grogan's column appears every Sunday and Wednesday. Write him at 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale 33301, or by e-mail: jgrogn(AT)aol.com.

ZILE: STEPDAUGHTER BECAME A PROBLEM, WAS TOO `SASSY'
Miami Herald, The (FL)
November 13, 1996
Author: Associated Press

John Zile, accused of beating his stepdaughter to death and then faking her abduction, told jurors Tuesday that he ``flicked'' the girl on her face and spanked her before she had a seizure and died.

``I went out into the living room and sat on the couch and cried with my wife,'' testified Zile, 34, who is charged with first-degree murder in the 1994 death of Christina Holt, 7.
``I didn't call 911 because I thought she was already dead. I was afraid that they would take my kids and my family would be broken up.''

Zile said the child became a discipline problem shortly after starting second grade. Christina, his wife's daughter from a previous relationship, was dropped on the couple's doorstep weeks earlier by a relative who had been caring for her in Maryland since she was born.

``She would lie, she would get sassy. She wouldn't do what she was asked to do,'' he said.

Zile is accused of beating Christina to death. Prosecutors say that after burying her, he and his wife tried to hide the crime by concocting a story about her being abducted from a Fort Lauderdale flea market.

The child's body eventually was uncovered in a field near a Kmart in the Palm Beach County town of Tequesta.

His wife, Pauline, was convicted last year and sentenced to life in prison.

Zile said Christina told him and his wife that she had been sexually molested while living with her grandmother. But, he said, she kept changing details about who molested her.

He said he became frustrated about the inconsistencies and her behavior problems, and spanked her on several occasions. He and his wife also pulled her out of school and planned to teach her at home.

The day the girl died, Zile testified, he had called her from her bedroom to discuss the problems.

He said he ``flicked her on the face,'' and became angry at her for defecating in her pants. Then he spanked her several times, he said, and she began having a seizure.

``She started clawing at herself. I panicked at that point,'' Zile said. He said he tried to perform CPR on the girl, and also tried to take her pulse.

``Her eyes were open but she looked right through me. . . . I didn't think she was breathing at all. I took her to the bathroom to shock her out of it with some cold water,'' he said. ``It was at that point that I thought she was dead.''

Zile said he put the girl into her bed, covered her up and went out into the living room with his wife. He said they buried her several days later. ``I knew it was wrong, but I felt when I didn't call the police in the next day or two that it was too late.''

Earlier Thursday, Zile testified that he and his wife, who was pregnant with the couple's third child, decided to put that child up for adoption so they could care for Christina and their two sons.

His first trial ended in a mistrial after a Palm Beach County jury split 11-1 for a first-degree murder conviction. The second trial was moved to Polk County because of excessive publicity in South Florida.

WITNESS BOLSTERS ZILE'S ACCOUNT OF CHILD'S DEATH
The Palm Beach Post
November 14, 1996
Author: VAL ELLICOTT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

John Zile's account of his stepdaughter's death shows he made several critical mistakes in attempting to revive her, mistakes that could be the reason she died, according to testimony Wednesday.

One witness even flatly stated that 7-year-old Christina Holt's death appeared unintentional, prompting an instant objection from the prosecution.
"It appears that Mr. Zile, in his attempts to revive Christina, he unwittingly caused her death," said Dr. Philip Buttaravoli, who based his testimony on Zile's 1994 statement to police.

After the objection, Circuit Judge Roger Colton ordered jurors to disregard the comment by Buttaravoli, who heads the emergency department at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. Colton's directive was based on a legal rule that bars expert witnesses from expressing opinions on a defendant's intent or state of mind, prosecutor Scott Cupp said.

If, as Zile claims, Christina had a seizure moments before she died, Zile did exactly the wrong thing by performing a crude version of the Heimlich maneuver on the girl and then attempting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Buttaravoli told jurors.

Those actions apparently forced Christina to vomit, then pushed the vomit into her respiratory tract, a scenario that corresponds with Zile's description of his stepdaughter's deteriorating condition just before she stopped breathing, Buttaravoli said.

After her heartbeat began to slow, Buttaravoli said, it probably was too late for paramedics to help, even if Zile had called 911.

Zile, who is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse, has based his defense on his assertion that Christina had a seizure.

Wednesday's testimony was ambiguous on that point. The autopsy on Christina's body showed no brain abnormalities, but autopsies often don't detect signs of a seizure disorder, said Dr. Michael Arnall, associate medical examiner for Palm Beach County.

Also Wednesday, Zile's lead attorney, Craig Wilson, asked for a mistrial after Zile accused Colton's court clerk, Beth Jennings, of making a derisive comment to a bailiff about Buttaravoli's testimony. Jennings denied the accusation and Colton denied Wilson's request, prompting an angry reaction from Zile, 34, of Singer Island.

"Nothing like getting a fair trial in Bartow," Zile said out of the jury's hearing.

A few moments later, Pat Zile, Zile's mother, called prosecutor Jill Estey "a piece of trash" to her face during a break, Estey said, apparently because Estey had been smiling at Jennings.

Colton grudgingly agreed to end testimony early Wednesday to allow Zile and his attorneys time to discuss rebuttal strategy for today.

Closing arguments are expected Friday at the trial, which was moved from Palm Beach County because of extensive publicity there. Jurors should begin deliberating Monday, Colton said.

DEFENSE WITNESS: DEATH ACCIDENTAL
ZILE JURY TOLD TO DISREGARD COMMENT
Sun-Sentinel
November 14, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

John Zile killed his stepdaughter on Sept. 16, 1994 during a desperate and clumsy effort to save her life, a defense witness testified on Wednesday at Zile's murder trial.
The defense presented two medical experts, an emergency room director and a pathologist, to support their contention that Christina Holt's death was accidental, instead of first-degree murder as the prosecution has argued.

"It appears that Mr. Zile, in his attempts to revive Christina, he unwittingly caused her death," testified Dr. Philip Buttaravoli, emergency room medical director at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.

Assistant State Attorney Scott Cupp objected to Buttaravoli's conclusion. After a bench conference, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Roger Colton told the jury to disregard the comment. He said it will be up to the jury to decide whether Christina's death was an accident or murder.

At Zile's first trial in May, which ended with a jury split 11-1 for a first-degree murder conviction, the dissenting juror held out for a second-degree murder conviction, convinced the death was an accident, as defense witnesses testified.

That juror questioned the credibility of the state's medical examiner, Dr. James Benz, who was then under pressure to resign. Benz retired this summer, and prosecutors have dismissed two child murder cases after questions arose about Benz's competence.

Benz testified for the state that Christina could have died from asphyxia when Zile placed his hand over her mouth to quiet her cries when he spanked her.

But Buttaravoli testified for the defense that almost everything Zile tried to do to save the girl, who was vomiting and in a seizure, forced more vomit into her airway, choking her.

After Zile's bungling actions, paramedics would have been unable to save the child's life, Buttaravoli testified.

In cross-examination, the prosecution said paramedics weren't called at all. A month after secretly burying her, Zile tried to explain the girl's disappearance by reporting she was abducted at the Swap Shop, west of Fort Lauderdale.

Cupp, the prosecutor, questioned whether Christina really went into a seizure the night she died. Zile says the girl had undiagnosed epilepsy inherited from her mother, Pauline Zile. The prosecution countered that Pauline Zile's seizures started after a car accident and that the condition cannot be inherited.

Pathologist Michael Arnall testified that an autopsy usually cannot detect a seizure condition unless there is a physical defect on the brain.

"Can't rule it in, can't rule it out," Cupp said. `Sounds like the perfect defense, doesn't it?"

The defense was expected to rest on Wednesday, but instead asked for more time to discuss trial strategy

DEFENSE OBJECTS TO WITNESS' CLAIM ZILE USED RACIAL SLUR
The Palm Beach Post
November 15, 1996
Author: VAL ELLICOTT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

A racially mixed jury heard testimony Thursday that John Zile threatened his stepdaughter in 1994 using a racial slur, an allegation that Zile's incensed attorneys described as a sham designed to inflame jurors.

David Muller, former owner of Dave's Pawn on Broadway in Riviera Beach, said Zile and his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, visited the store sometime in late summer or early fall of 1994.
"I saw Christina bouncing around the store a little bit," Muller recalled while testifying as a rebuttal witness at Zile's murder trial.

He said Zile took several steps toward his stepdaughter, cocked his fist as if to strike her and told her, "Knock it off or else you're going to end up on Tamarind Avenue with the niggers."

Zile's jurors showed no obvious reaction to the slur, although defense attorney Ed O'Hara said one of the three black members of the jury panel, Edard Terrell, rolled his eyes after hearing the quote.

"What a bomb to drop right before we go into closings (closing arguments)," O'Hara said. "It's a lie, absolutely. I'm going to hammer him (Muller) on closings."

He accused prosecutors Scott Cupp and Jill Estey of "digging him (Muller) out from under a rock" to prejudice jurors - particularly the three black men on the jury panel - against Zile.

"This (the racial slur) is extremely prejudicial," O'Hara said.

The defense team tried to minimize the perceived damage from Muller's testimony by calling Zile to the stand and asking him if he had ever taken his stepdaughter into Muller's pawnshop.

"No, I did not," Zile responded.

In a highly unusual development, O'Hara also took the stand. He said he spoke to Muller on the phone in March or April and specifically asked if he had information on anything Zile might have done while visiting the pawnshop.

"He said no," O'Hara testified.

Attorneys rarely testify on behalf of their clients. Circuit Judge Roger Colton said disallowing O'Hara's testimony "would work a substantial hardship" on Zile.

O'Hara and Zile's lead attorney, Craig Wilson, were particularly angry that Colton would not allow testimony from Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies regarding their investigation into an allegation that Muller once took steps to hire someone to kill his estranged wife.

Wilson argued that the 1995 investigation, which he said is still technically open, gives Muller a motive to assist prosecutors in the case against Zile. Muller denied the allegation.

But Colton said only an "ongoing" investigation could properly be used to impeach Muller's credibility. He noted that sheriff's deputies had described the investigation as inactive.

Zile is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse in the Sept. 16, 1994, death of his stepdaughter.

Prosecutors and the defense attorneys closed their cases Thursday. Today, jurors will hear closing arguments. The jury will begin deliberating on Monday after receiving final instructions on the law. They will be sequestered until they reach a verdict.

CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN JOHN ZILE TRIAL ARE TODAY
JURY TO BEGIN DELIBERATIONS ON MONDAY, JUDGE DECIDES
Sun-Sentinel
November 15, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

Five hours have been set aside today for closing arguments in John Zile's murder trial to recap three weeks of testimony and help jurors navigate through a four-page verdict form.

This jury will have a wider selection of charges than the jury in Zile's first trial in May.

In the retrial, prosecutors agreed to allow the jury to consider less serious forms of aggravated child abuse, as well as first-degree murder, to avoid a conviction being overturned by a higher court.

The May jury could not reach a unanimous verdict when faced with four forms of murder, ranging from first-degree murder to manslaughter.

Along with those selections, this jury will have to choose from among three forms of child abuse. Zile is charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder.
More choices add up to more confusion for juries, attorneys say, and a better chance that Zile will avoid a first-degree murder conviction punishable by the death penalty or life in prison for the September 1994 death of his stepdaughter Christina Holt, 7.

Jurors also will be directed to disregard the coverup of Christina's death. Zile is not charged with a crime for secretly burying the girl and, a month later, reporting that the girl was abducted at the Swap Shop west of Fort Lauderdale.

On Thursday, attorneys in the case worked out a manual of more than 20 pages that explains legal terms and directions that will be sent to the jury room for deliberations on Monday. Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Roger Colton decided to begin deliberations on Monday to avoid sequestering the jury over the weekend.

Jurors have spent almost as much time waiting outside court as listening to testimony. Thursday was a typical example. The jury was dismissed at noon after listening to only three of the eight witnesses who testified. Five of the witnesses were allowed to testify for the limited purpose of laying a record that the defense could use if it appeals a conviction.

Jurors heard pawnshop owner David Muller, who said Zile threatened Christina when she started "bouncing around" in his Riviera Beach store.

"He said knock it off or you're going to end up back on Tamarind with the [racial slur) again," Muller testified.

Muller was not allowed to use the slur in Zile's first trial, and the defense objected to his language because three of the 12 jurors are black.

In the defense rebuttal, Zile got on the stand and said he had never been in Muller's pawnshop. Ed O'Hara, Zile's attorney, also told jurors that Muller denied knowing Zile in a telephone conversation.

Jurors were not allowed to hear defense testimony from sheriff's deputies presented by the defense who said Muller was investigated for allegedly dealing in stolen cigarettes and threatening to kill his ex-wife during a child custody dispute.

ZILE LAWYERS URGE JURY TO CONSIDER MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE
The Palm Beach Post
November 16, 1996
Author: VAL ELLICOTT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

A conviction on manslaughter would be a victory of sorts for the defense, especially since John Zile's wife, Pauline, was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the case for merely failing to intervene.

The jury in John Zile's murder trial will begin deliberations on Monday.
John Zile's attorneys advised jurors Friday to consider convicting him of manslaughter rather than murder but argued strongly that his treatment of his stepdaughter amounted to no more than corporal punishment.

Attorneys Craig Wilson and Ed O'Hara believe Zile, charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, stands almost no chance of outright acquittal on charges that he killed 7-year-old Christina Holt.

A conviction on manslaughter would be a victory of sorts for the defense, especially since Zile's wife, Pauline, was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the case for merely failing to intervene in the incident that led to her daughter's 1994 death in the family's Singer Island apartment.

O'Hara cautioned jurors in closing arguments Friday not to convict Zile based on his "offensive" behavior after Christina's death - his decisions to leave the girl's body in a closet for four days, bury it behind a Kmart in Tequesta and help his wife dupe police and the public into believing Christina had disappeared from a swap shop in Fort Lauderdale.

"He's not charged with illegal interment of the body," O'Hara told jurors. "Offensive? Yes. But it didn't have anything to do with what happened before."

Prosecutor Scott Cupp initially made a strongly visceral appeal to the jury, saying Zile beat Christina into a state of abject terror, punished her with a savage beating when she defecated in her pajamas out of sheer fear, and suffocated her by clamping his hand over her mouth when she cried out.

"She was scared out of her mind," Cupp said of the Sept. 16, 1994, incident. "She was scared literally to death by the defendant, and with good cause. You've got a 7-year-old child who defecates in front of you? And you beat her? There's no excuse for this. None."

The rebuttal portion of Cupp's closing argument was more muted, possibly in reaction to O'Hara's repeated warnings to jurors that the prosecution would try to sway them with emotion.

O'Hara cast Zile as a well-intentioned but uninformed stepfather who tried to deal with Christina's escalating behavior problems - in cluding incidents of inappropriate sexual contact with Zile's 3-year-old son - in non-physical ways before he resorted to spankings.

"They're spankings, not beatings," O'Hara said. "In John's mind, his little boy's being molested and he's looking for answers. John's a working guy with little education trying to do the best he can with his kids."

The defense attorneys said Christina died as the result of a seizure, or from Zile's clumsy attempts to resuscitate her just after the seizure.

Cupp portrayed Zile as a chronic liar and asked jurors to note a key contradiction between the statement Zile gave police on Oct. 28, 1994, and his testimony Tuesday.

In 1994 Zile said he covered Christina's mouth with his hand after she defecated and just before her seizure. On Tuesday he said he covered her mouth but removed his hand before she defecated, which was at least a few minutes before her seizure.

"That wasn't a mistake or a slip-up," Cupp said. "It was deliberate."

Jurors will begin deliberating Monday after Circuit Judge Roger Colton reads them 29 pages of dense and somewhat confusing jury instructions. The jurors will be sequestered until they reach a verdict.