Stepbrother found guilty in strangulation of 11-year-old stepsister; custodial dad and stepmom already found guilty of neglect (Oswego, New York)

We've posted on this case before. Slight correction: this girl wasn't starved by her "parents" as such--she was starved by her custodial father LINDSEY MAXWELL and stepmother. Just to be clear about it, ya know. According to other news accounts, Maxwell and the girl's mother divorced in the late 1990s, and the dad got full custody. He was also a stay-at-home (read: unemployed) dad who apparently didn't care for housework either since the house was jammed with animals (alive and dead), animal feces and urine, and rotting garbage.

http://blog.taragana.com/law/2009/09/24/upstate-ny-man-found-guilty-of-strangling-stepsister-11-who-lived-in-deplorable-conditions-13103/

Upstate NY man found guilty of strangling stepsister, 11, who lived in deplorable conditions
Bureau News September 24th, 2009

OSWEGO, N.Y. — A 28-year-old central New York man was convicted Thursday of using a rope to strangle his 11-year-old stepsister, who authorities say was starved by her parents and lived in a home filled with animal feces and rotting garbage.

Alan Jones of Palermo was found guilty of second-degree murder after the Oswego County Court jury of 12 men deliberated about 12 hours over two days.

Jones’ defense attorney had argued that Erin Maxwell accidentally hanged herself while acting out a scene from the “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” movie in her bedroom on Aug. 29, 2008.

Prosecutors argued that Jones strangled Maxwell.

Jones faces 25 years to life in prison when he’s sentenced Nov. 6.

State police and rescue workers said they found more than 100 cats in the Maxwells’ home at the time of Erin’s death. Troopers also found the carcasses of several kittens in the freezer.

Authorities said Erin was routinely locked in her room at night and spent hours alone. She had no playmates and often went to school in clothes reeking of cat urine. Teachers and other school officials told investigators that she had been seen taking food from garbage cans and eating it or putting it in her desk.

Maxwell’s parents have been convicted in town court of multiple child endangerment charges. Lindsey and Lynn Maxwell face up to two years in prison when they are sentenced Oct. 12, but they have said they plan to appeal.

During closing arguments Wednesday, defense lawyer Salvatore Lanza criticized the medical examiner who performed Erin Maxwell’s autopsy, saying she issued a ruling without knowing all the facts. He also questioned the thoroughness of the state police investigation and noted that none of Jones’ DNA was on the rope or on Maxwell.

District Attorney Donald Dodd called Jones’ story of finding Maxwell hanging from a screw in her room “not worthy of belief.” The prosecutor said an unbelievable series of events would have had to occur for her to have hanged herself the way Jones explained it. Dodd also said Jones’ statements to police were inconsistent.

The district attorney prosecuted Jones under the theory he acted with depraved indifference by recklessly tightening a rope around Maxwell’s neck, causing her death. That means the jury did not have to find that he intentionally killed Maxwell but that he acted with such disregard to her life that he was guilty of murder.