HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — A Cass County jury Tuesday afternoon found Danial Rinehart guilty on all counts in his murder and incest ase.
The jury deliberated 2½ hours before convicting Rinehart of felony murder, statutory rape, child endangerment and two counts each of incest and abandonment of a corpse.
Rinehart, 49, was accused of carrying on a years-long incestuous relationship with a teen-aged daughter that produced four babies, only one of whom survived. Rinehart did not move when the verdict was read, but his eyes welled up.
The judge sent the jury back to begin penalty phase deliberations in the trial in Harrisonville.
Rinehart opted not to testify in his own defense, and his attorney called no witnesses.
The prosecution’s final witness, Teresa Carmichael, Cass County Sheriff’s Department detective, testified that a search of Rinehart’s jail cell eight months after his arrest turned up a letter he had written to his daughter.
“To my feonsay, I love you a hole bunch,” it began. In it, he made a reference to her having his baby.
During closing arguments, Janeal Matheson,Rinehart’s attorney, challenged all the charges against her client.
Read the full story at KansasCity.com