This undated image provided by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, shows William Riley Gaul, former Division III football player who is on trial this week in Tennessee on a first-degree murder charge. Both sides agree Gaul fired shots into the bedroom of 16-year-old ex-girlfriend Emma Walker, killing her as she slept. Prosecutors say he fired in anger over their breakup. Gaul’s defense says he never meant to killer her, but rather wanted to come “to her rescue and be her hero.” (Knox County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Jurors are about to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of a former Division III college football player charged in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend.
Prosecutors rested their case against William Riley Gaul on Monday afternoon after jurors heard the defendant’s two-hour interview with sheriff’s investigators that followed the death of 16-year-old Emma Walker of Knoxville, Tennessee. The defense also rested its case without calling any witnesses.
Closing arguments will take place Tuesday morning.
Gaul was a freshman receiver for Tennessee’s Maryville College when Walker was found dead Nov. 21, 2016. Gaul was dismissed from Maryville’s team after his arrest.
Neither side is disputing the defendant fired shots into Walker’s bedroom wall from outside her home, but defense lawyer Wesley Stone says Gaul never intended to kill her.