NEW ORLEANS – A New Orleans jury is hearing closing arguments in the murder trial of a thrice-widowed woman in her second husband's death — a case also linked to her third husband's slaying in Mississippi.
Emma Raine is charged with second-degree murder in the 2006 shooting death of Ernest Smith. Prosecutors say she plotted Smith's killing with her future third husband, James Raine, who was later shot to death himself. No arrests have been made in James's 2011 killing, although authorities say Emma Raine is a suspect.
Prosecutors say James and Emma Raine arranged for James's adopted brother, Alfred Everette, to shoot Smith for a share of insurance money. Everette was convicted in 2014. The defense argues that James Raine and Everette plotted Smith's death without involving Emma.
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