(December 5, 2008)—Jurors return to court Saturday in Gatesville to begin the process of deciding punishment for Megan Lewis Grant, whom jurors found guilty of murder Friday, after about four hours of deliberations.

Lewis Grant was originally charged with capital murder, a conviction for which would have meant a mandatory life sentence, because prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty.

Deliberations got underway just before noon Friday after closing arguments.

Both sides rested late Thursday afternoon.

Lewis Grant is on trial in 52nd District Court in Gatesville, for her part in the Sept. 15, 2007 murder of her 44-year-old ex-husband, James Michael Grant.

She took the stand Thursday and denied she had anything to do with the murder.

She was the only witness the defense called.

She cried as she addressed the 10-woman, 2-man jury, explaining she did not attempt to destroy evidence of the crime by burning blood-soaked clothing that was worn by her boyfriend during the brutal stabbing.

She said she was not aware of the killing until after 8 a.m. on the day of the murder - a statement that directly conflicts with testimony given Wednesday by John Tarrell Hopkins, 28, her then-boyfriend and the man who admitted he stabbed Grant to death.

Lewis Grant said she had not asked anyone to kill her ex-husband and had not offered money or anything else to Hopkins to commit the crime.

She also said the relationship between her and Grant, known to be very rocky at times, had improved and that she never would have wished him dead.

Several other witnesses, however, testified they personally had knowledge of Lewis Grant's effort to have someone kill her ex-husband.

John Tarrell Hopkins took the witness stand on Wednesday afternoon in Gatesville and testified that his girlfriend arranged for him to murder her ex-husband.

Hopkins testified that Megan Lewis Grant sometimes talked about how she wanted someone to kill her ex-husband.

Under direct examination Wednesday, Hopkins said, “Yes, sir I did,” when asked if he stabbed James Michael Grant to death in the early hours of September 15, 2007 as Grant slept in his own bed.

Hopkins explained how he got the knife he killed Grant with and how Grant’s then 15-year-old son called him when Grant fell asleep.

It was James Michael Grant II who let Hopkins into the house to commit the murder.

Hopkins sat in the witness box behind a charcoal-cooking grill – the one Lewis Grant used to burn Hopkins’ bloody clothes, as he testified.

Hopkins pleaded guilty to capital murder for his part in the crime about two weeks ago and was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

He was taken to the Gatesville courtroom from Kaufman County where he was being held awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice intake facility in Huntsville.

Earlier testimony established Grant was stabbed to death inside his home, near Gatesville, and his body was loaded into a pickup truck and taken to the spot where it was later found by sheriff’s deputies.