With news crews buzzing about, jubilant family members, prosecutors and law enforcement officials gathered around the halls of Batesville Courthouse following a jury’s guilty verdict and a life sentence just handed down by Judge Jimmy McClure for murderer James Willie late Tuesday afternoon.

The two-year saga for a Nebraska family ended with praise to local officials and  community in general for embracing the family and memory of Thomas Schlender, 74, who was shot multiple times alongside I-55 near the Pope-Courtland exit in the early morning hours of May 8, 2012.

It was 10 days later in the wee morning hours that Schlender’s son-in-law, Matt Anderson, who took on the roll of family spokesman, got a call from Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby stating, “We got the guy,” and noted that he (Willie) had the murder weapon in his possession.

Willie was arrested in Tunica County and charged with a murder there that occurred three days after Schlender’s.

Lori Ann Carswell of Hernando was shot to death alongside I-69 in Tunica County. Willie was first arrested in Tunica May 15 after police responded to a disturbance call. A woman had called and said she’d been raped.

Earlier news accounts revealed that Willie had discharged a 9mm Ruger during an argument with the woman.

Monday’s testimony revealed that the woman took officials to the location where the gun had been discharged and they recovered shell casings that began the prosecution’s basis for the case.

That witness Monday tied Willie to the gun, a Ruger 9mm found in the glove box of Willie’s girlfriend’s car, and spent cartridges in Tunica County. A Mississippi Crime Lab metal marking expert tied the same gun to the May 8, 2012 roadside slaying of Schlender.

State Medical Examiner Mark Lavon testified that Schlender died of multiple gunshot wounds with one of those shots coming from a range of one foot or less.

Court-appointed defender David Walker twice unsuccessfully asked Circuit Judge Jimmy McClure for an acquittal citing no eyewitnesses, confession or jailhouse snitch had been produced to confirm the murder. He had also questioned expert witnesses and investigators why no fingerprint or DNA was available to prove Willie’s guilt.

McClure responded to the long-time defender that prosecutors had proved every hypothesis of murder stating, “Prosecution has ample proof of a circumstantial case.”

Walker said prior to jury deliberations that he had the jury he wanted with a basic split of African-American, whites, male and female.

At least a partial victory for the defense occurred prior to the trial when Willie’s Panola County charges did not include capital murder that would have allowed for a life sentence without parole or death penalty.

A trip to Nebraska by DA Johm Champion and Asst. DA Jay Hale last  month to see if family members could positively identify a wallet thought to belong to Schlender did not bring results, causing prosecutors to exclude capital murder charges.

Those charges can only be included if the murder was committed while in the act of another crime according to Hale, who noted it would have been difficult to prove robbery without positive ID of the wallet.

Willie, an African-American, decided to testify on his own behalf and was the lone witness for his defense. He stated that he did not purchase the gun until after the murder occurred.

But Tunica Co. SO Commander Cedric Davis testified that when questioned on May 15, 2012, Willie stated that he had owned the firearm for “approximately two weeks.”

That testimony and definition of “approximately” became a focal point throughout the remainder of the trial especially with Champion’s cross examination of Willie who then stated  he bought the firearm after Schlender’s and Carswell’s murders on May 8 and  May 11, 2012 respectively.

At one point during Champion’s cross-examination of Willie he was asked to remain behind the podium by the judge at Willie’s request. Willie then asked the judge to make the prosecutor quit pointing his finger at him. McClure stated that the prosecutor had a right to express himself as long as he was behind his podium.

“I would buy stuff off the street and come down here and sell it wholesale,” Willie said.

“You chose to lie to protect your investment,” Champion said of Willie’s conflicting dates of when he purchased the pistol.

“On a stack of Bibles, I did not kill Mr. Schlender,” Willie said

Jurors spent over two hours deliberating before announcing Tuesday’s verdict.

A murder trial in Tunica County was declared a mistrial earlier this year and will be rescheduled.