Jury Gets Case of 2 Charged With Torching Tourist

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —  A prosecutor held up the charred tatters of Christopher Wilson’s shirt Monday and described how the black tourist ran screaming in flames after he was doused with gasoline.

“This is a case about the horror of burning flesh,” State Atty. Harry Lee Coe said during closing arguments in the trial of two white men accused of abducting Wilson on New Year’s Day and setting him on fire.

“This case is about men who have no regard for human life.”

As Coe played to the emotions of the jury, a lawyer for one of the defendants urged jurors to set aside their sympathy and “decide the case on the facts.”

After nine days of testimony, the jury of five whites and one black got the case late Monday afternoon. Jurors sent Circuit Judge Donald C. Evans a note after about 3 1/2 hours of deliberations. Evans said he will address the note this morning, and he dismissed the panel for the night.

Wilson, 32, a stock brokerage clerk from New York City, suffered burns over nearly 40% of his body. He was abducted as he attempted to buy a newspaper at a shopping plaza. He was then forced at gunpoint to drive to a remote field where he was showered with gasoline and burned.

Wilson identified Mark Kohut, 27, and Charles Rourk, 33, as his attackers. They could face life in prison if convicted.