SKOWHEGAN (NEWS CENTER Maine) — "So who killed my wife Valerie Tieman?"
That question became the focus Monday of the closing argument of Luc Tieman's closing argument as he delivered to jurors on behalf of the defense.
"I didn’t have an alibi because I didn’t think I needed one, because I didn’t know my wife was dead," he told jurors. "All items found with my wife have one thing in common, that I’m not there. None of the scientific evidence shows me being there."
Tieman maintained his innocence until the very end of his argument, believing someone else was responsible for killing his wife and burying her behind his parents’ home.
But even after hearing multiple versions of what happened, jurors, not satisfied with the accused murderer's story, made a decision in less than 45 minutes. Guilty.
"We believed we always had a strong case," said one prosecutor.
Tieman’s attorney does not regret letting Tieman take closing arguments into his own hands, he does regret the jurors' decision. "There was no forensic evidence, there was no DNA," he said.
Valerie’s family stood proudly together outside of the courthouse after the verdict — her younger brother Greg came all the way from Nevada for this moment. His birthday, Aug. 25, now also marks the day the family lost its only daughter. Greg thinks Valerie would want them to keep moving forward.
"It’s sad that this happened, I hadn’t really seen my sister since I joined the military in 2013," he said. "I have to remember her in the good, always in the good."
Valerie's parents, Sarah and Allen, are now asking everyone to remember their daughter for who she was, not for how she was murdered.
"She was a loving caring person, she gave everyone the benefit of the doubt," they said. "We loved her very much, we miss her."