Scroll down to see our live blog from the verdict proceeding.
After weeks of testimony and evidence were presented, Judge Michael Meersman delivered his verdict in the trial of Tim McVay.
McVay was accused of killing Carrie Olson of Davenport, Iowa, and dumping her body in Hastings, Minnesota just before he traveled with a friend from Minnesota to Las Vegas. Olson’s death was ruled a homicide by unspecified means.
The bench trial began with early testimony from one witness June 4, 2015 and the remaining proceedings underway as of June 10. It concluded with closing statements delivered Tuesday, July 14. With no jury, the decision about McVay’s innocence or guilt was in the hands of Judge Meersman.
During the verdict proceeding that began at 1 p.m. Friday, July 17, 2015, Judge Meersman reviewed his notes aloud, from the evidence presented during the trial, as he explained how he came to his conclusion. At times he spoke directly to Tim McVay, including remarks questioning McVay's claims that Carrie Olson loaned him her car after she supposedly agreed to drive him to Minnesota and drop him off. "How were you going to get home from Hastings?" Meersman asked.
Meersman also questioned McVay's answers to questions from her family, when Carrie was initially missing, saying McVay's text to Carrie's dad - claiming Carrie's car was at the Minneapolis airport - was not true, because Carrie's car was actually at Tami Hegi's home in Hastings. Meersman also questioned the odds of Carrie's body being discovered four miles from Hegi's home, to which McVay traveled before taking his trip to Las Vegas.
"The single biggest issue is the cause of death and when it occurred," Meersman said, speaking about the lack of determination of how Carrie died. He then said he believed there were a number of ways Carrie could have died that might result in an undetermined means during autopsy.
"I am not a female, but I don't know of many females that would give me their car and leave their makeup, their wallet, checkbook and their hairbrush in it," Meersman said as he reviewed what was in a purse found in Carrie's car when McVay returned it to the Quad Cities. All of the contents of her purse were found except Carrie's wallet, which was missing and never found.
"You say what you need to to get them to do what you want," Meersman said to McVay, "And all of these women seem to fall for you for various reasons. But, a snake oil salesman gets what he wants and then he moves on," Meersman said, as he speculated that the women with whom McVay was involved all got to a point that they "saw through you, and then you knew you had to move on."
Answering the defense claims that the evidence presented at trial was only circumstantial, Meersman said, "In this case, in relation to Mr. McVay's statements, the only way not to have the pieces of the circumstantial evidence to match, is for everyone to be lying except for Tim McVay. "
The only reasonable inference is that Carrie Olson died at McVay's house, Meersman said.
"I don't know how you did it, but you did it," Meersman said directly to McVay.
"I'm not finding you guilty to make anybody happy," Meersman said, as he told McVay he was found guilty of both counts - first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death.
Sentencing was set for a later, as yet undetermined, date in about 60 days. McVay remained held in the Rock Island County Jail.