Deliberations to pick up Monday in Tonch Weldon trial

MARENGO - The jury will resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Monday in the first-degree murder trial of Tonch Weldon, 39, of Blairstown, in Iowa County District Court.

Reporter Trish Mehaffey will provide live coverage at www.TheGazette.com from the courtroom when a verdict comes in.

Weldon is accused of shooting Amy Gephart, 35, with a 20-gauge shotgun on June 7, 2009. Gephart died from one shot to the chest. Weldon, who then turned the gun on himself, suffered serious injuries to his face and jaw area.

In closing arguments Wednesday, the prosecution argued that Weldon shot and killed Gephart, his wife's girlfriend, because the two women threatened to leave him. The slaying was deliberate and premeditated, Assistant Attorney General Denise Timmins said.

Last week, Tonch Weldon's wife, Amanda Weldon, testified that the two had an open marriage and Gephart lived with them and was their sexual partner. However, Amanda Weldon said, she and Gephart fell in love and had decided to leave together. After arguing that day, she testified, her husband shot Gephart in front of her and then tried to shoot himself more than once.

Dennis Cohen, Tonch Weldon's attorney, argued in his closing that it was a “crime of passion.” Tonch Weldon was intoxicated, under stress and sleep-deprived that day, he said, and the shooting wasn't premeditated. He asked the jury to consider the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.