The jury had not yet reached a verdict in the Michael Ron Runyan murder trial when they were sent home Wednesday afternoon.

The jury began deliberation at about 2:10 p.m., after closing arguments.

District Court Judge Timothy Finn gave instructions on the law pertaining to the first-degree murder charge early in the morning.

During closing statements by the state, Assistant Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes told the jury that they have more than sufficient evidence to find Runyan guilty of first-degree murder.

He said circumstantial evidence is so strong that Runyan did in fact kill with malice and in a premeditated manner.

“He did not act in justification or in self-defense,” Holmes said.

In her closing address to the jury, defense attorney Julia Keifer said the jury could convict Runyan of “no more than voluntary manslaughter.”

She said Holmes was telling the jury to “start from a perspective of Mike is guilty of everything” and then force every point of evidence to fit into his “fairy tale.”

Holmes told the jury “there is no excuse for what happened, not because it was Veishea or because a lot of people were drinking.”

Holmes reenacted the stabbing by demonstrating to the jury the swing the accused Runyan took when fatally wounding Harold “Uri” Sellers last spring.

In addition, to showing Runyan could not have had the knife on him the entire day, Holmes put on the black jacket Runyan was wearing the night of the stabbing to show the jury how the knife sticks out of the pocket.

“The evidence speaks loudly,” Holmes said. “The knife in the pocket does not make sense.” He said Luke “Abrams” Nielson would have seen the knife sticking out of the pocket, but he never did during the entire night.

Keifer pointed out both the jacket and the hilt of the knife are dark, so they would blend easily.

Holmes said the evidence paints a very complete story. He said as the Fort Dodge group passed the Adelante fraternity, Runyan and Nielson became involved in an altercation that led to an argument between Sellers and Runyan.

He said during the second altercation and the “final goodbye,” an angry Runyan took out his knife and stabbed Sellers in the chest.

Holmes said Runyan was deliberate in his actions and “he knows it’s true.”

He also pointed out the fact that Runyan stabbed Sellers in “the shadows” of the party away from the crowd.

“He stabbed him in the darkness,” Holmes said. “He planned this.”

Keifer told the jury there was no way witnesses could have been accurate in their testimonies due to the amount of alcohol they had consumed the night of Sellers’ death.

Holmes maintained the jury should find a place for all the evidence in their verdict.

“If we only had one or two witnesses, we might begin to question whether or not what they saw was what they saw,” Holmes said.

“Most importantly of all is the act itself,” Holmes said. “It was directed to the heart. That speaks to malice.”

Keifer said Runyan was reasonable in believing Sellers and his companions would hurt him and that his one stab could be considered necessary force.

“He didn’t slice everybody up,” Keifer said.

She said if Runyan’s stab would have done what he intended it to do, Sellers would still be alive.

Keifer said there is no doubt Runyan did kill Sellers, but that it was not intentional.