The defense rested yesterday without calling any witnesses in the murder trial of a former Waltham man accused of poisoning his wife.
The fate of James Keown will now rest in the hands of a jury come Monday. Judge Sandra Hamlin earlier told jurors that the case would not be heard today - for a reason unrelated to the Keown case.
Authorities claim Keown, 34, murdered his wife, Julie Oldag Keown, by slowly poisoning her with ethylene glycol - a substance most commonly found in antifreeze - after the couple moved to Waltham in 2004. Julie Keown, 31, died on Sept. 8, 2004, days after she slipped into a coma at Newton Wellesley Hospital.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case yesterday against the former Missouri radio host.
Friends of Julie Keown testified yesterday that she told them that James was trying to get her to drink Gatorade in September 2004.
Prosecutors allege that Gatorade was the vehicle James Keown likely used to slip his wife the fatal doses of ethylene glycol, which is a sweet-syrupy substance that can go undetected when mixed with other liquids.
Jill Lawson, a friend and co-worker of Julie's, read an e-mail she received from Julie on Sept. 2, 2004, where Julie claimed that James kept trying to get her to drink Gatorade, but she didn't want it because her stomach couldn't handle anything "citric."
Heather LeBlanc testified about a phone call she had with Julie just days before her death, in which she heard James Keown "yelling out" in the background for Julie to drink her Gatorade.
James Keown's attorneys have suggested that Julie Keown committed suicide by ingesting the ethylene glycol. The defense claims she was despondent about her underlying kidney disease, a condition which would have eventually required a transplant.
LeBlanc, who described herself as Julie's best friend, said when she visited her in Waltham in late August 2004, Julie, while worried about her condition, vowed to try to live a normal life.
"She was ready to tackle things, she was ready, as she would say, to 'kick butt' and ready to move on with life," LeBlanc told jurors.
LeBlanc also said that Julie Keown had talked about wanting to have a baby. Prosecutors contend James Keown was a man in dire financial straits who was drowning in debt in the weeks before they say he killed his wife.
Authorities say that James Keown poisoned Julie to cash in on her $250,000 life insurance policy.
Patrick Byrne, a financial investigator for the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office who analyzed the Keowns' records, said in August and September 2004, James Keown had received a notice from NStar warning electricity would be shut off at the couple's 52 School Ave. home in Waltham if $452 in delinquent charges weren't paid.
Byrne also showed a Verizon cell phone bill sent to James Keown, claiming he owed about $360 in past due charges. A notice from Keyspan gas company also sent to James Keown warned that gas would be shut off at the home if overdue charges weren't paid.
Byrne also read off bank statements from July to September 2004 of the Keowns' three accounts, some of which were either drained of funds or had negative balances.
Matthew Feinberg, James Keown's attorney, suggested that the financial quandary was overstated, noting that Byrne's analysis did not take into account money in the Keowns' retirement accounts. Feinberg also showed documents that the couple made wire transfers for thousands of dollars between the three accounts.
Hamlin told jurors to be at the courthouse at 10 a.m. Monday for closing arguments.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
