Jason Starr wants judge to overturn jury’s verdict and free him

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - Convicted killer Jason Starr wants a judge to overturn his guilty verdict, claiming federal prosecutors failed to prove their case during his murder trial.

Jurors convicted Starr and his brother Darin on September 22 of conspiring to kill Jason’s 36-year-old former wife, Sara Starr.

Attorney Jim Parkman claims they could not have rationally reached that conclusion, given the evidence.

During the Starr brothers’ seven-day trial, prosecutors used law enforcement, forensics experts, and others to bolster their circumstantial case, but admitted they lacked physical evidence implicating the Starrs.

They told jurors that Jason Starr wanted his former wife dead so badly that he paid Darin to drive from his Texas home to Coffee County to kill Ms. Starr, shot twice at her rural home.

Prosecuting attorneys believe Darin lurked outside Ms. Starr’s home near Chancellor, Alabama, waiting for her to leave for work on November 27, 2017, and when she walked out her door, he shot her twice with a 12-gauge shotgun.

According to prosecutors, Jason Starr had become outraged over a court order to pay his former wife and their four children about half of his income.

If U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker denies the acquittal request, Parkman wants him to grant Jason Starr a new trial.

Jason and Darin Starr, who are detained, will receive life prison terms during their formal sentencing later this year.

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