After deliberating seven and a half hours, a jury in Hardin County Wednesday night found Christian “Kit” Martin guilty on all counts for the November, 2015 murders of Calvin and Pam Phillips and Ed Dansereau in Pembroke.
In addition to the murder charges, Martin was also convicted on the arson, attempted arson, tampering with evidence and burglary counts.
Martin is facing up to life in prison without the possibility of parole and Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins advised the jury to return to the courtroom Thursday morning to begin the sentencing phase.
Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley laid out the Commonwealth’s timeline for how they believed the killings happened during closing arguments and urged the jury to not buy into the defense theories about ex-wife Joan Harmon or anyone else.
Public defender Tom Griffiths attempted called the Commonwealth’s evidence “planted” and “desperate” and asked the jury to return a not guilty verdict.
The murders were investigated by the Christian County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police.