Woman accused of murdering her boyfriend found not guilty

Deborah Wilkins's trial was postponed after she broke her ankle amid record snows. But the trial continues and jurors deliberated for hours on March 2 without reaching a verdict.
Deborah Wilkins's trial was postponed after she broke her ankle amid record snows. But the trial continues and jurors deliberated for hours on March 2 without reaching a verdict.
photo Deborah Wilkins

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. -- Deborah Elaine Wilkins, the Chattooga County woman accused of murdering her boyfriend last summer, is not guilty.

A jury acquitted Wilkins this morning after 11 hours of deliberation over three days. Wilkins killed her boyfriend, William Robert Packer, on June 14. She claimed self defense.

Packer was well known in the community, mostly because he killed his friend, James "Pee Wee" Kirby, in October 2010. After a botched investigation, Packer claimed self defense, and juries acquitted him in two trials.

In her own case, Wilkins faced life in prison on charges of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault. She told investigators that Packer planned to kill three acquaintances in town who he believed wronged him.

She said that Packer was also going to kill her because she knew his plan, so she shot him in his house as he searched for his gun.

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