Defense rests in Day 13 of Timothy Jones Jr. murder trial

The prosecution will call witnesses Monday as part of its reply to defense's case

LEXINGTON, S.C. (WOLO) — After more than a week of testimony, the defense rests their case in Day 13 the Timothy Jones Jr. murder trial.

Ever since the prosecution rested their case last Wednesday, te defense called 26 witnesses to the stand. Seven of which, including two that took the stand Friday, were mental health professionals.

Meeting with the defendant for at least 18 hours, Dr. Julie Rand-Dorney, a forensic psychiatrist, told the jury Friday what she says Timothy Jones Jr. told her went through his mind the night of the murders.

“He believed they’d be better off in heaven than to not have a parent, that he would be in prison, that their mother would not be there for them, and that’s when he believed he would ‘send them to the other side, no pain or suffering then,'” Dr. Rand-Dorney said.

She says Jones did not know legal right from wrong in the death of Nahtahn, but his frame of mind changed in the deaths of the other four children.

“It is my opinion that he did not have the ability or capacity to distinguish moral right from moral wrong. He was able to distinguish legal right from legal wrong with those set of deaths,” she said.

This contradicts testimony made by court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. Richard Frierson, who said under oath Jones Jr. was able to distinguish moral and legal right from wrong the night his children died.

Dr. Beverly Wood, the Chief of Psychiatry for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said spice use might have contributed to Jones’s declining mental state.

“I believe he has an underlying mental illness. It could have been exacerbated by his drug usage. Certainly, he used drugs that could change your brain chemistry,” Dr. Wood said.

Both psychiatrists say Jones has schizo-affective disorder, which affects both his thoughts and moods.

One thing they say they agree on is that Jones was not faking his condition.

“Dr. Frierson did not diagnose malingering, I didn’t see anything that looked like malingering, this is just illness,” Dr. Rand-Dorney said.

On Monday, the prosecution will bring up witnesses as part of their reply to the defense’s case. No new evidence will be presented during this phase in trial. Closing arguments should begin at some point next week.