Prosecutor Donna Pendergast’s closing argument in Michigan v. Unger was a marathon  — the longest she’d ever given — nearly three hours. 

Donna Pendergast (prosecution closing arguments): The unfortunate truth is that a human life has been ruthlessly and recklessly obliterated.  And there will never be enough justice for that.  Never.

Defense attorney Bob Harrison went even longer, calling the accusations against Mark Unger disgraceful. 

Bob Harrison (defense closing argument): He came back and he kissed his sons again after just destroying their mother.  Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs” couldn’t even do that. It is outrageous to suggest that anybody could destroy the life of the mother of these children and act like that.  It’s outrageous and absurd, and it’s a lie.

And so began an agonizing wait. 

For the jurors too it was agonizing, the case was full of contradictions.

Chris Hansen, Dateline Correspondent: This was not a smoking gun case.  There was no DNA evidence linking Mark Unger to the crime, no fingerprints, no eye-witnesses. Did that make it hard for you?

James, juror: Very.

Becky, juror: Yes.

Lucy, juror:  Yes.

5 members of the 12 person jury spoke with "Dateline" —a waitress, the owner of a construction company, a nurse, a pharmacy technician and a factory worker. On the first day of deliberations, they took a vote. 

Tina, juror:  I was undecided. 

Hansen: And what Tina was it that gave you doubt at this point?

Tina, juror:  It wasn’t so much doubt, as I just was not ready to commit to anything.  I really wanted to go through all of my notes.  I wanted to consider everything.

And consider they did.  25 long hours, stretched over four days.

Hansen: How did you feel as the deliberations went on?  Day one, two, three. 

Mark Unger: I was, it was just hard enough to get through those days.  Was I anticipating not guilty?  Yes.  Was I optimistic about being home that next weekend?  Absolutely.

Mid-way through the fourth day of deliberations came word a verdict had been reached.

Judge Batzer: So we’ll have the bailiff bring in the jury.

For the jurors, it was a moment of dread. 

James, juror: I didn’t want to make eye contact with the defense, the prosecution, their families.  It was—we knew it was gonna be hard.

Clerk (reading verdict): People of the State of Michigan versus Mark Steven Unger. We the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.

Flo’s mother collapsed.

Mark’s mother and sister watched, speechless, as he was taken away in handcuffs.

These jurors say deciding Mark Unger’s fate was one of the hardest things they’ve ever done. 

Lucy, juror: We gave Mark 110 percent.  We really did. 

Hansen: He’s told that Flo is, essentially, in the water.  But apparently, not exactly where, yet he is able to go directly to the location of the body.  Suspicious?

James, juror: Very.

Suspicious too they say were Mark’s mood swings on the phone. The fact that he started packing the car to leave and didn’t pull Flo out of the lake.

Hansen: Did it bother you that he left the body in the water?

David, juror: It did.  If it was my wife laying there, I’d be doing everything I could to get her out.

And the jurors believed the theme hammered home by the prosecution.

Hansen: So you believe the fact that she was afraid of the dark?

James, juror: Yes. (they nod)

Becky, juror: And I think someone who’s not even afraid of the dark wouldn’t logically stay out there in the dark.  It’s just—it’s really dark.

Tina, juror: It just doesn’t add up.  I don’t understand why she wouldn’t go with him to put the kids to bed.

Most convincing though was the testimony about Flo’s brain injuries and the test done by this University of Michigan doctor.

Hansen: Was there one star witness in your mind?  One person who’s ... really sewed it up for you?

Becky, juror: Dr. McKeever for me. He had proof.  Concrete proof that she was alive for some period of time before she was in the water.

Once the jurors accepted that Flo had been alive on the pavement for an hour and a half, they say the defense team’s computer animations made no sense. 

David, juror: The animated picture showed that ... hit the ground, rolled over several times—had a seizure, drowned; many things, instantly.  And it just was too hard to believe.

Lucy, juror: Bodies don’t bounce, I don’t care what they say, on cement. 

So in the end, it all came back to the blood stain that caught the trooper off guard.

Hansen: If Flo’s body had been found on the cement and not in the water, do you think you would’ve had to go with this being an accident?

Tina, juror: Yes.

James, juror: I believe so, yes.

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