Odes Dupree murder trial: Closing arguments Monday

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. - Closing arguments will begin Monday in the trial of a man accused of killing a Douglas County great-grandmother. 

Odes Dupree, 54, is charged with one count of malice murder and two counts of felony murder in the November 2014 death of Florene Duke, 75. 

Investigators said Dupree bound Duke with shoelaces so he could rob her apartment.  Prosecutors believe he removed televisions and other items from her unit so he could sell them for money to buy cocaine.

"Any and everything that he could stuff in his pockets or put in a bag, he was taking," testified Detrone Royal, who admitted to giving Dupree crack cocaine in exchange for two televisions from the apartment.

Police said Dupree, who had just gotten out of jail before the crime, was Duke's neighbor. 

Amanda Lindley told jurors she had tried to call her grandmother and became concerned when she could not get through.  She went to Duke's apartment and found her lifeless in her bedroom. 

"She was laying there with her hands tied behind her back," Lindley sobbed on the stand.  "She was hog-tied."

Jim Kiger, Duke’s attorney, asked jurors to separate the raw emotion of Duke's death with the evidence in the case. 

"Just because a horrible thing was done to Ms. Duke, doesn't mean my client gets convicted," Kiger explained.

Both the prosecution and the defense will present closing arguments when court resumes at 9:00 Monday morning.