Jury convicts Zirkle of charges related to 2018 murder
Jun. 15—ANDERSON — A jury convicted Jordan Zirkle on Tuesday on one of two counts of aiding, inducing or causing murder.
Jurors deliberated for about four hours before reaching the verdict in Madison County Circuit Court 6, where Judge Mark Dudley presided over the trial.
Zirkle, 33, was convicted of Level 1 felony aiding, inducing or causing murder in the Aug. 6, 2018, shooting death of David L. Phillips II, 36.
He was found not guilty of Level 1 felony aiding, inducing or causing murder in the July 29, 2018, shooting death of Trinity Parker, 39.
Zirkle's sentence hearing is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. July 16 in Circuit Court 6. He faces a possible 45 to 65 years in prison, according to Madison County Deputy Prosecutor Grey Chandler.
Zirkle is the first of four co-defendants being tried for alleged involvement in the deaths of Parker and Phillips. Brittney Vontress-Cox, Taylor Wheeler and David Roberts are scheduled to go to trial this year.
Daniel Jones admitted to killing both Parker and Phillips in 2020. He was sentenced to 60 years for murder, 60 years for aiding, inducing or causing murder and 14 years for criminal confinement.
The causing murder and criminal confinement sentences will run concurrently and consecutive to the murder sentence for a total of 120 years.
Jurors had listened Monday to testimony regarding DNA and forensics before the state rested its case against Zirkle about 3:30 p.m. The trial resumed shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday, and closing arguments took place around the noon hour.
The state urged jurors to convict Zirkle based on his actions during and after the murders. The evidence they presented included video surveillance of Zirkle walking into the Rangeline Nature Preserve with Phillips and Jones before Phillips was murdered. His body was later found in the nature preserve.
Zirkle had told investigators that he was afraid of Jones and unsure what to do because he had seen Jones' violence toward others.
Deputy Prosecutor Chandler called that story "baloney." Duress, he said, does not provide an excuse to commit a crime.
Bryan Williams, defense attorney for Zirkle, said the case against his client was based on the testimony of David Roberts, a co-defendant in the case. Roberts, according to Williams, had lied to investigators on various occasions.
Williams urged jurors to "pretend David Roberts doesn't exist" when weighing the evidence against his client.
Another deputy prosecutor, Daniel Kopp, said each witness and evidence presented in the case confirmed Roberts' testimony. Kopp told jurors they should not dismiss that evidence or speculate on the case to reach a verdict.
He reviewed the evidence presented during the trial and tried to show how it supported the charges against Zirkle.
"Innocent people don't act like that," he said of Zirkle's interactions with Jones.
The remaining three co-defendants in the Parker and Phillips murders will also appear before Judge Dudley in Madison County Circuit 6. The three trials will begin with Vontress-Cox at 8:31 a.m. Aug. 23.
She is charged with Level 1 felony murder and Level 3 felony criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon.
Follow Traci L. Miller @_TraciMiller on Twitter, email her at traci.miller@heraldbulletin.com, or call her at 765-640-4805.
