Zarate murder trial jury to deliberate Monday:

The trial of Jonathan Zarate for the 2005 murder of Jennifer Parks wrapped up yesterday and the jury will begin to deliberate on Monday.

Both attorneys gave their closing arguments yesterday.

Defense attorney Richard Mazawey argued that only mental illness could explain the brutal way in which Zarate killed Jennifer Parks.

The diminished capacity defense “is not a gimmick…not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Mazawey said. “There’s nobody that can look at those pictures and the evidence and not see sickness.

Morris County Executive Assistant Prosecutor Robert Lane said to the jury that the verdict should be a no-brainer.

Lane said the “viciousness and brutality” of what Zarate did “can only be defined by one word…and that’s murder.”

I was going to say with any luck the jury will return a guilty verdict but we shouldn’t be relying on luck. The jury has to return a guilty verdict so the Parks family can know justice.