Jury reaches verdict in Jeremy Christian MAX stabbings murder trial
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PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — The jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of Jeremy Christian.
The court reported on Friday at 2 p.m. that verdicts had been reached and would be read imminently.
FOX 12 will continue to update this story as the verdicts are read in court. The reading of the verdicts will also be streamed live on KPTV.com and the FOX 12 app.
Christian faced 12 counts, including charges of first-degree murder, in connection with the May 2017 stabbings of Ricky John Best, 53, of Happy Valley, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, of Portland. Micah David-Cole Fletcher was also stabbed, and survived the attack.
Prosecutors described Christian as a racist and a white supremacist during the trial, who was provoking people and looking for a fight when the stabbings occurred.
The defense said Christian acted in self-defense after being physically confronted on the train while exercising his right to free speech.
Investigators said the attacks were preceded by Christian yelling hate speech at two young women on the MAX train.
Surveillance video was shown for the first time publicly during the opening days of the trial, which included the initial confrontations on the train and subsequent stabbings.
Christian made multiple outbursts during court appearances in the time leading up to the trial. During the trial he was also demonstrative, and, at times, spoke up and laughed during the proceedings. Christian, however, did not testify in the trial.
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