Jury Deliberates Fate of Men Accused of Killing 6 People Over Xbox Video Game

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida – Jurors began deliberations Monday in the murder trial of three men accused of killing six people in a 2004 revenge slaying over an Xbox video game system.

The panel deliberated for about three hours before adjourning and heading to the motel where they were to be sequestered for the night.

Prosecutors claim Troy Victorino recruited his two co-defendants for the baseball bat attacks against the six victims, believing one of them had taken his Xbox game system and some clothing from a house where he had been squatting.

Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Crime Center.

Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Law Center.

Lawyers for Jerone Hunter and Michael Salas said Monday in closing arguments that their clients were intimidated and coerced by the 6-foot-7-inch, 270-pound Victorino.

"Victorino is kind of a Charles Manson," said Frank Bankowitz, an attorney for Hunter. "He had power over them."

Attorney Jeff Dowdy, one of Victorino's attorneys, said his client was being subjected to a "feeding frenzy" of blame.

Salas and Hunter, both 20, testified that they hit some of the victims, but their attorneys said both deny inflicting any fatal blows.

Attorneys for Hunter and Salas also blamed each other's clients for following Victorino's lead in the massacre.

Victorino, 29, testified he was drinking with friends at a restaurant at the time of the killings in Deltona. However, crime analysts said blood from several of the victims was found on his boots.

Prosecutor John Tanner told jurors during his closing argument that the finger-pointing by defendants is unimportant.

"Who killed who? They killed them all," he said.

If jurors find the trio guilty of first-degree murder, they will have to return to recommend whether the men should receive life in prison or death by lethal injection.

A fourth defendant, Robert Cannon, 20, pleaded guilty in October to his role in the killings, but he refused to testify at his co-defendants' trial, saying he was innocent and wanted to withdraw his plea. Chief Circuit Judge Bill Parsons has not decided whether he will allow the change.