Brian Moore's lawyer Jeff Compton thanked jurors for their service and said when the trial ends, they'll go on with their lives.

But, Compton said, "what happens here with Brian Moore stays with him for the rest of his life."

Compton disputed testimony from private investigator Ted Pulver, who told jurors Tuesday that Moore said he had planned where "the boys (Shellye's son and nephew) would be positioned when Dale Stark arrived home.

Compton reminded jurors that they were only there because Shellye's sister had hit a bull moose when driving from Priest River to Spokane to give Shellye a gun. The nephew and son were enlisted to get the gun and help Shellye serve the restraining order instead of her sister. It was a last-minute move that Moore had nothing to do with, Compton said.

"Bottom line is Ted Pulver messed up," Compton said. "Unless the moose was in on this, unless Brian Moore can control wildlife, what he has claimed to have said by Ted Pulver makes no sense."

(The jury foreman in Shellye's first trial said the jurors viewed the moose as divine intervention that failed.)

Compton reminded jurors of Shellye's claim of self defense.

"Before you even look at Brian Moore, you have to look at the claim of self defense," Compton said. "There is no burden for us to prove to you that self defense was necessary."

He reminded jurors of Christopher Stark's testimony that his father had a bad temper and would get very angry and throw things. He emphasized the seriousness of a teen boy being so afraid of his own father.

"No matter how you feel about Shellye Stark's actions," Compton said. This isn't about her. It's about Moore.
Compton said testimony from probate attorney Mel Champagne showed the life insurance wouldn't pay out if Dale was killed.

"Without that, there really is no major motive," Compton said. "This really is a ridiculous sort of plan, because they've set up a plan where the person who need to inherit does the killing. It's absolutely ludicrous, because Shellye Stark couldn't get it (the payout.)"

He said prosecutors seem to think Moore and Shellye were smart enough to plot a ruder but dumb enough to forget to secure the payout.

"It's simply ludicrous to suggest you would miss something so important," Compton said.

Compton also said the idea that Chris Stark's trust fund is a "sham fund" is ridiculous. It was just an 18-year-old kid blowing money.

He said the idea that they plotted the murder to get Dale's assets if ridiculous because Shellye had equal ownership of their assets.

He pointed to the 911 recording of Shellye absolutely hysterical after the shooting as proof it wasn't planned.

"If that's acting, Ms. Stark missed her calling in life," Compton said. "That's beyond Meryl Streep good."
He reminded jurors that there's no proof Moore gained any money through this. No proof of big transactions to his bank accounts, etc.

"There's some big cash withdrawals, that's a fact, but there's no evidence it went to Brian Moore," Compton said.

"The state has twisted this into some plot that never existed," he said. Compton said that, under the state's reasoning, Shellye's entire family should be charged with murder. If Moore said he planned where "the boys" were to be positioned, shouldn't the son and nephew be charged, too?

"How about the moose? Should this be the state of Washington versus Bullwinkle J. Moose?" Compton said.

Compton said jurors can find a conspiracy if they try, but "you can read evil into anything you want."

"In the end, Brian Moore was simply anxious to help the woman he loved," Compton said. "We ask you to send this man home. We ask you to find him not guilty of both counts."

Deputy Prosecutor Mark Cipolla is giving a brief rebuttal now. He pointed to Compton's statement that the plan couldn't have exisited because it was so poorly thought out.

"People do riciulous things all the time," Cipolla said. "If they didn't I wouldn't have a job." He said Chris Stark never reported physical abuse by his father, and that Shellye even said in divorce filings that she wasn't afraid, she just wanted to be left alone.

"When did the idea of a restraining order come up? Right there," Cipolla said, pointing to Moore.

"Mr. Moore was not in love with Ms. Stark," Cipolla said. "He was a greedy man."

Cipolla pointed to evidence that Shellye had contacted lawyers like Julie Twyford prior to the shooting. Compton said she was looking for family law attorneys. Cipolla said she already was looking for defense attorneys because she planned to kill her husband as instructed by Brian Moore.

Cipolla reminded jurors that Pulver said Moore - Shellye's pimp - needed money so he could retire.

The jury of nine women and three men will begin deliberating today but is expected to continue Thursday at 9 a.m.

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