GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – Michael Renard Jackson showed no emotion in court Saturday as he heard for the second time that he had been convicted by a jury of the rape and brutal murder of a 25-year-old veterinary tech in Orange Park.
The jury had been excused to deliberate Friday afternoon in Jackson’s retrial in the 2007 case and after asking several questions during deliberations, returned shortly after 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a verdict.
The jury found Jackson guilty of both the first-degree murder and rape of Andrea Boyer, who was found dead in January 2007 at the veterinary practice where she worked.
Jackson was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 2010. In his first trial, it took the jurors only 90 minutes to come back with a guilty verdict. But the Florida Supreme Court threw out the verdict after finding Clay County deputies made prejudicial comments on the stand.
The jury in the retrial took longer to decide, but the outcome was the same: Guilty on both counts.
Watch: Press play below to watch the guilty verdicts being read in court:
Judge Don H. Lester said the penalty phase of Jackson’s retrial will begin on Tuesday. Prosecutors are again seeking the death penalty against Jackson, who raped, stabbed and strangled Boyer before beating her to death with a fire extinguisher.
Investigators said Jackson’s DNA was collected from a rape kit done on Boyer’s body, which a co-worker found at the Wells Road clinic around 6:30 a.m. the day Boyer was killed.
Jackson had been previously convicted of rape and burglary in the mid-1980s and sentenced to 30 years in prison. But he was released early and was not out for long before Boyer was killed.
The retrial in Boyer’s murder saw years of delays because of the pandemic and a fight over DNA evidence found on the suspected murder weapon, a fire extinguisher.
A jury was seated last week in the retrial, and testimony began Monday. On Wednesday, Jackson took the stand in his own defense, and he again denied killing Boyer. The prosecution brought up Jackson’s previous conviction in court Thursday. The survivor from that case testified privately.
The defense argued that the detectives in this case did not do a thorough investigation and only settled for the DNA that matched Jackson. That DNA was what the state relied on, saying it was the most powerful piece of evidence in the case.
“Police don’t care, didn’t care then. When the DNA match came back that was it for them,” said defense attorney Ann Finnell.
In court Friday, the defense questioned detectives’ actions, saying they did not do a full investigation of the scene or investigate who Boyer was.
“Bottom line here is AB had a double life. She was a stripper in a nude club. She’d seen it all. She went by a fake name of Haley. She used drugs, that we’re sure of,” Finnell said.
The defense argued the timeline of the assault would not allow Jackson to get to work on time. Also, the defense said, no evidence at the scene connected Jackson.
The state asked the jury to consider Jackson’s previous rape conviction.
“Just like it was when he raped his other victim. Cases are similar. He went to places where they felt safe. Moyers kennel was her second home. Only difference in the two cases — H.E.’s case, he left a witness and fingerprint. In this case, he didn’t. He made sure of that,” said prosecutor Pam Hazel.
Jackson testified he and Boyer had consensual sex in a truck that wasn’t processed for evidence.
His defense said Boyer also tried to buy drugs from Jackson.
“Smoking weed has nothing to do with her credibility because she’s not here. Codine, morphine, it has nothing to do with what he did to her,” said Assistant State Attorney Daniel Skinner.
The state said Jackson’s DNA was not found on her clothes but still on her person, even after he tried to destroy evidence.
On Friday afternoon, the jury asked eight questions. The jurors wanted to see photos from the scene, the autopsy, video of the detective interview with Jackson and transcripts from the interview. The judge told them that they had to go off what they remembered and that all the evidence pictures were back there with them.