Jury weighs murder evidence in NH machete attack

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — Jurors have begun deliberations in the trial of a New Hampshire teenager charged with wielding a machete during a deadly home invasion last year.

Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson told jurors to voice their individual opinions when they consider the case against 18-year-old Steven Spader.

Spader is charged with first-degree murder and other felonies in the knife and machete attacks that killed Kimberly Cates and maimed her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, in their Mont Vernon home. He has pleaded not guilty.

A prosecutor told jurors that Spader’s detailed written accounts of the killing amount to a confession. His lawyers dismissed them as the writings of a teen known for bragging and lying.

Spader will be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of murder.