It took a Smith County jury just over five and a half hours on Saturday to return verdicts of guilty for a man responsible for the death of a South Carthage resident in April of 2019. Kenneth McDonald was found guilty of two counts of First Degree Murder for the death of Jason Neusse. Neusse’s body was discovered by a relative in a warehouse on Hunter Avenue that had been converted into living quarters. Neusse had been beaten to death and had been deceased for several days. Investigators with the South Carthage Police Department joined with agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the Smith County Sheriff’s Department and the cooperative investigation resulted in five men being Indicted for their varying roles in the crime.

Defendant Kenneth McDonald was charged with one count of Premeditated First Degree Murder, one count of a First Degree Murder for a killing committed during the commission of a felony, and the underlying felony, Aggravated Burglary. The jury on Saturday found that the prosecutors office had proven all three counts beyond a reasonable doubt, and returned verdicts of guilty as to each count.

“This was an incredibly hard-fought trial. Deputy District Attorney Justin Harris and Assistant District Attorney Jack Bare did an absolutely masterful job in presenting the evidence and proving their case. I am very thankful to the members of the jury, who spent long and late hours every day this week including on Friday night and most of Saturday, hearing this case and returning a verdict consistent with that proof. Because everyone did their jobs properly, the system worked and justice prevailed,” said Jason Lawson, District Attorney.

Proof throughout the rest of the week saw testimony from police, investigating agents of the TBI, the medical examiner, multiple expert witnesses in forensic science, persons who had seen Neusse shortly before the murder, and even testimony from three of the co-defendants in the case who have already pleaded guilty to crimes reflecting their level of involvement. The prosecution rested its case on Friday morning and the defense rested its case late on Friday. “The crime of First Degree Murder can be committed in a couple of different ways. If a person commits an intentional and premeditated killing of another, that is a First Degree Murder. If a person commits a felony that is inherently dangerous, such as forcibly entering someone’s house for the purpose of assaulting the resident, and as a result of that assault the person dies, that also is a First Degree Murder—regardless of intent to kill. In this case, both of those legal theories were proven—not only did McDonald enter the home with intent to commit an assault, but he also made the decision to continue that assault until it produced the death of Jason Neusse.

For this reason he was charged under both theories and convicted under both theories. Since both involved the death of the same victim, those sentences will merge into one life sentence,” explained Deputy DA Justin Harris. The lead investigator on the case was Special Agent James Scarbro. He was assisted by many officers from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Carthage Police Department. “We cannot do the work we do without a solid investigation. The police work in this case, the gathering of the evidence for presentation in court, the hundreds of man-hours that brought the case from the point of a body being found with no leads to the point where the jury understands and sees the presentation of a tremendous amount of evidence that resulted in convictions beyond a reasonable doubt, all of that is to the credit of the law enforcement agencies involved. Investigator Scarbro and the TBI, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carthage Police Department are the reason that justice was achieved in this case,” said ADA Jack Bare.

“The crime of First Degree Murder can be committed in a couple of different ways. If a person commits an intentional and premeditated killing of another, that is a First Degree Murder. If a person commits a felony that is inherently dangerous, such as forcibly entering someone’s house for the purpose of assaulting the resident, and as a result of that assault the person dies, that also is a First Degree Murder—regardless of intent to kill. In this case, both of those legal theories were proven—not only did McDonald enter the home with intent to commit an assault, but he also made the decision to continue that assault until it produced the death of Jason Neusse. For this reason he was charged under both theories and convicted under both theories. Since both involved the death of the same victim, those sentences will merge into one life sentence,” explained Deputy DA Justin Harris.

The lead investigator on the case was Special Agent James Scarbro. He was assisted by many officers from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Carthage Police Department. “We cannot do the work we do without a solid investigation. The police work in this case, the gathering of the evidence for presentation in court, the hundreds of man-hours that brought the case from the point of a body being found with no leads to the point where the jury understands and sees the presentation of a tremendous amount of evidence that resulted in convictions beyond a reasonable doubt, all of that is to the credit of the law enforcement agencies involved. Investigator Scarbro and the TBI, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carthage Police Department are the reason that justice was achieved in this case,” said ADA Jack Bare.