HILLSBOROUGH, North Carolina – Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in a murder trial that will be covered live by In Session.

Alvaro Castillo

Alvaro Castillo was a year out of high school in Hillsborough, North Carolina when he returned one day armed to the hilt with pipe bombs, a shotgun and a rifle and opened fire on students and teachers having lunch outside. Fortunately, no one was killed though two students were injured. Just minutes after the melee began, Castillo was apprehended outside the school. He blurted out to the school officer who restrained him that he had “sacrificed” his father.

Shortly after, police found the body of 65-year-old Rafael Castillo. He was partially covered by a sheet, still sitting on the couch in the living room. The elder Castillo was wearing boxer shorts and a tee shirt and appeared to have been reading the newspaper when he was shot six times from the left side. The autopsy later revealed that one shot grazed his shoulder and five shots entered the left side of his head. There was massive injury to his brain and brain stem and his skull was shattered.

Castillo made a chilling homemade video after shooting his father in which he admitted to killing him then apologized for it. He said he killed his father because of the abuse he and his family experienced at his hands. But the shooting that day didn’t stop at home.

Castillo had an obsession with the 1999 Columbine school massacre in which 13 people were killed before the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed themselves. Police seized various writings, DVDs, and video recordings by Castillo that showed his obsession. Within a few hours of killing his father, Castillo drove the seven miles from his home to his former high school and opened fire on students and teachers.

He’s been incarcerated since that day but it was only last February that Castillo was found competent to stand trial. Now, he’s asserting an insanity defense and hopes to be civilly committed to a psychiatric facility rather than incarcerated in a state prison. It wouldn’t be his first time in such a hospital. Castillo was committed four months earlier, on April 20, 2006, but for only some days, after having suicidal thoughts. Authorities took a shotgun away from him at that time. But, he bought two more guns after leaving the hospital one of which he used to kill his father.

For Castillo to return to a psychiatric hospital and not go to prison, the jury will have to believe that he didn’t know right from wrong when he shot his father in the head and then showed up at his high school with pipe bombs, a shotgun and a rifle and started firing.

-Beth Karas, In Session correspondent

NEW YORK – When the jury declared Tyler Edmonds not guilty in the murder of his brother-in-law last year, the emotion on both sides of the courtroom was palpable. Behind Edmonds sat his mother and rows of friends his own age; tears flowed and the stunned teenager received a barrage of hugs before he walked out of the courtroom a free man.

Tyler Edmonds

Still sitting on the opposite side of the gallery were the mother, brother, and sister-in-law of his alleged victim Joey Fulgham – a 29-year-old father of three, whose life ended when a single bullet pierced his skull as he lay sleeping in his bed. I was struck by the severe look on the faces of all three as they stared straight ahead. I asked Joey’s brother Shannon Fulgham about it when we met for an interview a few weeks later; pain and disbelief, he said.

Edmonds, now 20, is working as a yard and pool keeper, and begins night classes at the local community next month with an EMT/Paramedic major. He has filed a suit against Oktibbeha County and the state for monetary compensation, to help with the $60,000 debt he says he and his mother have amassed since his legal troubles began. The complaint paints a stark picture of the teen’s time behind bars: “Tyler witnessed multiple instances of inmates attempting suicide by slitting their wrists and continuous threats by inmates to jump off the catwalk. Tyler was surrounded by gangs and gang wars at all times while incarcerated, an atmosphere that would be intolerable for any adult, much less a child of his age,” the document reads.

Edmonds has also filed a claim under a new Mississippi law that entitles wrongfully imprisoned individuals to up to $50,000 per year of incarceration; for Edmonds, this could add up to $200,000.

The case had dragged on since Joey’s death in 2003, when his wife Kristi allegedly recruited her 13-year-old half-brother Tyler Edmonds as an accomplice in her husband’s murder. All seem to agree Kristi is a masterful manipulator, but Tyler’s role – and level of responsibility – was left for the jury to determine. He was already convicted of the murder once, at the age of 14, but that verdict was overturned by the State Supreme Court. And here he was again at the defense table, at 19, hearing the words he’d been waiting for; the seal on his walking papers. “It is amazing how that much worry and pain can be taken away by two words,” he told me later. He’s prayed, he said, that the Fulgham family will realize he did not kill Joey – but has come to realize there is nothing he can do about it.

Shannon Fulgham says one of the most difficult things for the family has been watching the rallying of support for Edmonds based largely on his age. Few of the individuals and organizations to step forward know the facts of the case, he says; none have expressed concern for Joey’s essentially orphaned children, who now are in the care of Kristi’s mother.

In an update Edmonds sent me last week, he says it’s comforting to be able to look towards the future without worrying about going back to jail. “It's still hard sometimes, but considering all that I've survived thus far, something tells me I will be quite alright.”

Kristi, now on death row for the murder, has written him and apologized, he says; he has no intention of responding.

-Lena Jakobsson, In Session field producer

NEW YORK –There is little suspense left as the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court moves to the full Senate on August 7.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to approve Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Sotomayor on Tuesday in a 13-6 vote, almost along party lines. There was just one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who joined Democrats in supporting her. "This is the first Latina woman in the history of the United States to be selected for the Supreme Court. Now that is a big deal," said Graham.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, explained his opposition: "In speech after speech, year after year, Judge Sotomayor set forth a fully formed judicial philosophy that conflicts with American philosophy of blind justice to the law."

The Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Pat Leahy, deflected the criticism, saying, "In her 17 years on the bench there is not one example, let alone a pattern, of her ruling based on bias or prejudice of sympathy...she has been true to her oath and faithfully and impartially performed her duties as set forth by the Constitution."

Democrats control the Senate 60-40, ensuring Sotomayor's confirmation to the lifetime position and making her the first Hispanic to the high court. In addition to Graham, at least four other Republicans have said they will vote for Sotomayor, including Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Mel Martinez of Florida who has pointed to his shared Hispanic heritage.

The National Rifle Association, which is opposing Sotomayor, warned senators that it would include their votes on her confirmation in its annual candidate ratings, but that is not likely to significantly effect the numbers in her favor. Sotomayor is not tipping the court's ideological balance, since she's replacing liberal Justice David Souter.

Obama may have the opportunity to select up to two additional candidates to the Supreme Court and will certainly have learned something from this process and the ideological alarm bells set off by Republicans in response to what many consider a judge with a mainstream judicial record.

-Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–More than three decades after Marcia Trimble disappeared while delivering Girl Scout cookies, Jerome Barrett was convicted of second-degree murder Saturday by a Nashville jury.

Jerome Barrett listens as jury delivers guilty verdict

The unsolved killing of nine-year-old Trimble – who mysteriously vanished in February 1975, only to be found dead 33 days later – haunted an entire generation of Nashville citizens.

After finding Barrett guilty of two counts of murder, jurors then set punishment at 44 years in prison. The panel deliberated for eight and a half hours over two days before reaching their verdict Saturday morning.

Watch In Session's complete verdict coverage Monday beginning at 9 a.m.

–Michael Christian, senior field producer

NEW YORK–More than three decades after a child disappeared while distributing Girl Scout cookies, Jerome Barrett sits in a Nashville courtroom charged with her murder. The unsolved killing of Marcia Trimble – who mysteriously vanished in February, 1975, only to be found dead 33 days later – haunted an entire generation of Nashville citizens. But is Barrett – a man already convicted of another 1975 murder – really the person who strangled Trimble over 34 years ago?

Virginia Trimble Ritter, the mother of the victim, was the first witness called by the prosecution

Law enforcement officials who worked on this case over the years are expected to testify today.

The most poignant witness to testify Wednesday was Virginia Trimble Ritter, the mother of Marcia Trimble. She recalled how her daughter left the family home around 5:20 pm on March 25, 1975.

“She was walking out the back door . . . she said, ‘Mom, Mrs. Maxwell is home, and I’m going to take her her cookies’ . . . I said, ‘Put your coat on, honey,’ because it was a little cold outside. And she said, ‘Oh, Mama, I don’t need my coat, because I’ll be right back.’”

But, of course, Marcia Trimble didn’t return. After searching the neighborhood for her, the family called the police. “I went to Marcia’s room, and knelt down by her bed and prayed. I started praying that day, and I haven’t stopped.”

Finally, on March 30 – Easter Sunday – the family’s worst fears were realized. “We left church to come home . . . they called the church and talked to the pastor and told him not to tell us, but to follow us home, which he did . . . when we pulled up, [a police officer] came out to our car and said, ‘We have news.’ I could look at his face and tell it was not good news . . . I said, ‘I want to go in and sit and hear the news’ . . . ‘we found Marcia; we found Marcia ... we found her body, and she’s dead.’”

Stay tuned to In Session for complete coverage of this case.

–Michael Christian, In Session senior field producer

NEW YORK–We bring you all sorts of cases where people are accused of behaving badly, but what happens when animals do the same? They and their owners land in “Pet Court."

An accused cat named Tom

When a cat named Tom is accused of trespassing, destroying his neighbor's property and leaving dead animals on the lawn, his owners have to answer to Tampa, Florida, Judge Nick Nazaretian, who dispenses his own brand of “ruff” justice. 

The charismatic, no-nonsense judge presides as owners passionately defend their pets. It’s the only courtroom dedicated to truth, justice and the animal way. Click here to see a clip.

truTV is going to the dogs, cats, chickens - and even a duck - on “Pet Court” all next week at 3 p.m.

–Michelle Fox, supervising producer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–In Session’s new live trial, starting this morning in Nashville, Tennessee is a case that has haunted the city. For over three decades, the murder of a 9-year-old Girl Scout went unsolved. Then, in 2008, the community was stunned to hear that someone had finally been charged with the killing. But after all those years, do police really have the right man?

Jerome Barrett

On Tuesday, February 25, 1975, a fourth-grader named Marcia Trimble left her home in the Nashville neighborhood of Green Hills to deliver some boxes of previously-ordered Girl Scout cookies. The 9-year-old never returned.

For 33 days, the disappearance of Marcia Trimble was a mystery that gripped the country music capital. Hundreds of volunteers – men and women, young and old, friends and strangers – scoured the town, searching in vain for some sign of the missing child. Bloodhounds attempted to pick up Trimble’s scent, at least one psychic offered advice, and local television stations covered the story relentlessly – all without any result.

Then, on Easter Sunday, everyone’s worst fears were realized. Trimble's body was finally discovered underneath some clutter in a neighbor’s unused garage – only 150 yards from Trimble’s own home. According to authorities, she had been sexually assaulted and strangled; a neck bone was reportedly fractured. Poignantly, the child’s Girl Scout cookie money was missing; cookies themselves were scattered around Trimble’s clothed body.

For 33 years, the murder of Marcia Trimble remained unsolved. It was a mystery that was never forgotten, with yearly media coverage on each anniversary of the child’s disappearance. An entire generation of Nashville children grew up with the fear that what had happened to Trimble could conceivably also happen to them.

The Tennessean newspaper has referred to the death of Marcia Trimble as Tennessee’s version of the JonBenet Ramsey case. “It’s the biggest murder mystery in Nashville history,” said Capt. Mickey Miller, of the Metro Nashville P.D.’s homicide division. “With that crime, we lost our innocence.”

Then, in June 2008, a grand jury indicted a man authorities believe murdered Marcia Trimble over three decades ago. Jerome Sidney Barrett, then 61, had recently been arrested for another cold case, the murder of 19-year-old Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez – a crime which took place on February 2, 1975, only 23 days before Trimble disappeared. A DNA sample taken during the investigation of the Des Prez homicide subsequently linked Barrett to the Trimble murder.

The prosecution’s first-degree murder case against Jerome Barrett hinges in large part on the DNA linking him to the body of Marcia Trimble – DNA evidence that the defense fought unsuccessfully to exclude from this trial. But DNA sometimes cuts both ways – and Barrett’s attorney claims that the evidence in this case strongly suggests that someone else actually committed the Trimble murder.

They also say Barrett, who faces live in prison if convicted, wasn’t in Green Hills on February 25, 1975 and he didn’t kill Marcia Trimble.

Stay tuned to In Session for gavel-to-gavel coverage of this case.

–Michael Christian, In Session senior field producer

NEW YORK – Judge Sonia Sotomayor is getting the opportunity to convey her judicial philosophy as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee begin grilling the Supreme Court nominee on the second day of her confirmation hearings.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor answers Senate Judiciary Committee questions

Sotomayor wasted no time in attempting to expound on her comments that a wise Latina would come to a better judgment on the bench than a white male without the same life experience.

"I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences," said Sotomayor.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, from Alabama, pressed Sotomayor on her impartiality, “I just am very concerned that what you're saying today is quite inconsistent with your statement that you willingly accept that your sympathies, opinions and prejudices may influence your decision-making.”

Sotomayor addressed her ruling in the reverse discrimination case filed by white firefighters in New Haven, Conn. - overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court - by explaining that it was about an examination for the firefighters, "not about quotas, not about affirmative action."

Concerning privacy rights and Roe versus Wade, Sotomayor said Tuesday she considers "all precedents of the Supreme Court" settled law. The divisive issue led to four anti-abortion activists being thrown out of the hearing yesterday.

On gun rights, Sotomayor told the committee that she has a Godchild who is a member of the NRA and would not take any "preconceived notions" to the high court if confirmed.

The hearing is expected to wrap up Thursday and a Senate vote should take place within a couple of weeks. There's word on Capitol Hill that some Republican senators will begin backing Sotomayor, but regardless, the Democratic majority makes it likely that Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, unless as Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican from South Carolina, said, she has a "complete meltdown."

Stay tuned to In Session’s coverage of the hearings with Fred Graham live from Capitol Hill this week.

-Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer

BRADENTON, Florida–After deliberating for just over four hours Monday, a jury of 5 men and 7 women found Thomas Fast guilty of first-degree murder and robbery in the 2007 death of his stepmother, Susan Fast.

Thomas Fast reacts to the jury's guilty verdict

One female juror cried after the announcement, while the defendant looked slightly shaken and his neck and face rapidly reddened. Fast was immediately sentenced to life without parole for the murder and a concurrent 15 years with credit for time served for the robbery.

Although Thomas Fast decided not to testify, jurors heard from him Monday via two audiotapes: a police interview and a recorded telephone call he made to his mother from prison.

In his closing argument, prosecutor Art Brown told jurors that for all the talk of drug rings and conspiracies, what really mattered was Thomas Fast’s mindset toward Bruce and Susan Fast. “Now insanity is not a defense in this case,” said Brown “but hostility, even if partially based on delusion, is relevant.”

Defense attorney Frank Roberts, though, was adamant the prosecution’s case made no sense, and focused in on discrepancies like the jewelry that – according to the defense – magically appeared in their client’s duffel bag during a third search of it. “I can only say that planted evidence does happen,” said Roberts. “Who would have put it there, I don’t know. But I know it wasn’t there on the 30th.”

Stay tuned to In Session for the latest verdict coverage with correspondent Jean Casarez.

–In Session staff

BRADENTON, Florida–A cab driver has testified today that he drove defendant Thomas Fast to a Publix supermarket where his pick up truck was parked, but when they arrived law enforcement was waiting for him after a frantic call from Fast's own father.

Fast is facing life in prison for the premeditated murder of his stepmother, Susan. Prosecutors say that he was angry at the thought of being cut out of his inheritance. Fast has pleaded not guilty, and says he did not kill her.

On Wednesday, the jury heard testimony from the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy on Susan Fast.

Dr. Wilson Broussard testified that he went two different times to the retention pond area where Fast's desecrated body was found in several different black plastic bags.

Divers were set to search the pond on July 25, 2007 when they saw a black plastic bag that had apparently risen to the top of the water with what Broussard testified as “a protruding left foot."

The forensic pathologist said an autopsy of the 60-year-old victim was performed the next day, at which time he determined Susan Fast had a cut to either hand, but it was three knife wounds to the neck that led to her death.

Broussard specifically said one neck wound on the right side of victim was deeper than the other two; it cut through the sternum and the jugular vein was severed. This wound was more than two inches deep; the cut went downward from right to left and ended near the clavicle.

Pictures were circulated amongst the jury of the remains of the victim. They silently looked at them, passed them on to the next juror and continued to listen intently to the medical examiner's testimony.

Gavel-to-gavel coverage continues on In Session.

–Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent