ALTAMONT, Tenn. – A jury of eight women and four men on Wednesday took an hour and a half to find Martin Dean “Cub” Meeks guilty of first-degree murder in the June 14, 2009, shotgun slaying of 79-year-old Carl “Carly” R. Winton.
Under state law, Meeks must serve a life sentence in a conviction for first-degree murder.
The three-day trial started Monday in Grundy County Circuit Court before Judge Thomas W. Graham. The prosecution rested its case late Tuesday after putting at least a half dozen witnesses on the stand.
According to testimony from state and defense witnesses, Meeks and Winton had been at odds for about a month prior to the day of the shooting, a Sunday when Meeks and several others were working on property adjacent to Winton’s mobile home.
According to testimony under questioning by Assistant District attorneys Steve Strain and David McGovern, Meeks had been drinking that day and registered a blood-alcohol content of between 0.12 and 0.17 five hours after the shooting.