By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

WaKEENEY -- For two long, hard weeks, Jack Stevenson watched the trial of the man charged with killing his only brother.

He has always been convinced that nephew David A. Stevenson was responsible for the death of his brother, Walter A. Stevenson, 85.

On Friday, a six-man, six woman jury finally agreed with him, finding David A. Stevenson guilty in the March 13, 2008, death in western Gove County.

"We all feel justice has been done," Jack Stevenson said shortly after the jury's verdict was announced.

The Gove County jury, hearing the case in Trego County District Court, returned its verdict shortly after 3 p.m. Friday. It started at about 10 a.m., breaking for lunch and to see a video that had been introduced as evidence in the case.

As the verdict was read, silence filled the courtroom, until District Judge Ed Bouker asked if a verdict had been reached in the case. He then read the verdict, five law enforcement officers positioned around the courtroom to ensure that no one got out of line. No one did.

David Stevenson's daughter and ex-wife, showed shock when the verdict was read, but said nothing. His daughter rushed out of the courtroom, followed by her mother.

As the jury was ushered out through the judge's chambers, Stevenson sat at the table where he had been sitting for the past two weeks, palms down on the table and his head down. He never looked up until after Bouker asked deputies to escort him back to jail.

"Disappointed," defense attorney Paul Oller said of the verdict.

And while Oller said he respects the jury's decision, both he and his client disagree with it, and he will soon be preparing documents on behalf of his client.

"We expect an appeal out of it," Oller said.

Sentencing in the case was not immediately scheduled, with Bouker saying that a hearing date would be set later.

Lead prosecutor Steven Karrer was visibly pleased, but limited most of his comments to expressing appreciation to law enforcement officers who worked on the case, as well as Trego County, which agreed to let the trial take place there.

"Justice was served," he added, a theme familiar to the one expressed by Jack Stevenson.

"I believed it all along," Jack Stevenson said of David Stevenson's guilt.

Throughout the trial, family and friends were in attendance. At times, the courtroom was standing-room-only as witnesses testified.

As the verdict was read, nearly 35 people were in the courtroom. Friday morning, as attorneys prepared to make closing arguments in the case, more than 40 people were on hand.

Bouker read a set of 10 instructions to the jury prior to the closing argument.

Throughout his closing argument, which he split into two segments, Karrer told of the jury's first responsibility.

"The first thing you're going to have to do is decide if this was a homicide or if this was an accident," he said. "There's no getting around it. If you decide it's an accident, that's it. You go home."

But, then he went on to explain why it was not an accident, starting out with testimony that the grain truck was the immediate cause of death of Walter Stevenson had been in "excellent condition."

With equipment like that, he said, "you end up with what David Stevenson told Elaine Wycoff. Things got ugly.

"And when things get ugly, you end up with that" a picture of Walter Stevenson lying on a cold, cement floor underneath the grain truck, flashing up on the screen in front of the jury.

Oller, however, sought to use a sequence of events to show that his client could not have killed his father.

Writing on an easel-supported pad, Oller went minute-by-minute of events that took place on March 13. He told of how David Stevenson's whereabouts were confirmed by people either at the farm or in Scott City where he and his mother, Bonny, had gone for part of the day.

"Now, the state wants you to believe this was not an accident," Oller said. "They want you to believe this was in fact a murder."

Given the circumstances, Oller argued that the jury should have reasonable doubt as to his client's guilt.

"We ask that you come back and find the state has not met its burden, and find David Stevenson not guilty."

Karrer, however, pushed to show that David Stevenson not only killed his father, but did so in the first-degree, with premeditation.

"Did he get a chance to write David Stevenson down on a piece of paper?" Karrer said of Walter Stevenson identifying his killer. "No, he didn't. I wish he could have.

"Now you have that chance. You've got to write that name down on a piece of paper. Let everyone know this wasn't just some accident."