Natalie Keepers found guilty for her role in Nicole Lovell's death

Keepers is accused of helping kill 13-year-old Nicole Lovell

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – 4:08 p.m. update:

After less than 90 minutes of deliberating, the jury found Natalie Keepers guilty of accessory before the fact of first-degree murder for her role in the death of Nicole Lovell.

2:45 update: 

Two alternates have been chosen for the jury. 

The jury is now made up of eight men and four women. 

2:30 p.m. update:

After recess, the jury was given instructions of the law that they are to use when judging Natalie Keepers, and if she is guilty of her charges.

Although the defense objected to two points in the instructions, they were overruled by Judge Robert Turk.

Both the Commonwealth and the defense were given 45 minutes to give their closing arguments to the jury.

Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Patrick Jensen gave the Commonwealth's closing argument and reiterated that he felt they had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Natalie Keepers was an accessory to the murder before the fact and shared David Eisenhauer's intent to kill NIcole Lovell.

Defense attorney Kris Olin gave the closing argument for Natalie Keepers.

He said Keepers involvement in the crime wasn't about planning to kill Lovell, but instead to earn the love and attention of Eisenhauer, a man he suggested Keepers was in love with.

"It was the best club in the world," Olin said, quoting Keepers during her interrogation video.

Commonwealth Attorney Mary Pettitt stood up to speak after Olin. She agreed that Keepers was in love with Eisenhauer and wanted his attention, but said that was no excuse for helping him plan a murder.

She called on the jury's life experience and common sense when deciding Keeper's guilt or innocence in the case.

Closing arguments ended at 2:40 p.m.

12:30 p.m. update:

Judge Robert Turk ordered that video cameras be turned off for the next and last defense witness. The witness, only known as "Miss B" was a minor at the time of Nicole Lovell's murder. After much deliberation over the Commonwealth's objection to her testimony, Turk overruled the objection, agreeing it was legal to allow her testimony.

Keepers smiled and looked at her attorney Kris Olin, "So, she's in?" Keepers asked.

"Yes," Olin said.

"Miss B" testified that she met David Eisenhauer on an online chatroom and communicated via social media app Kik daily. Although it was not established how long she knew Eisenhauer, this communication began at least a month before Lovell was killed.

The judge did not allow attorneys to ask "Miss B" specifics about her relationship with Eisenhauer, including if it was romantic.

"Miss B" testified that Eisenhauer talked frequently about killing Nicole Lovell.

"He would bring it up at least once a week," she said, stating that he would describe ways he wanted to kill her.

"He mentioned driving his car into a body of water and arson," the witness said.

"Miss B" also said during her testimony that during Eisenhauer's frequent discussions about killing Lovell, he never mentioned Natalie Keepers.

"He never mentioned a name, gender or age of the person he was communicating with, but said they had military knowledge," she said.

"Did he mention anyone told him to do it?" defense attorney John Robertson asked.

"No," she responded.

"Did he blame anyone else?"

"No," she responded.

"He did mention his family was really hard on him and told him not to mess this up," she said. "That's why he said he needed a way out."

The Commonwealth had no questions for the witness and the defense rested its case.

Court is in recess until 1:30 p.m.

The jury will hear instructions from the judge when they return, then closing arguments.

"Miss B" was later identified as Bailey Browning during the commonwealth's closing arguments.

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11:15 a.m. update

After Dr. Jonathan Mack left the stand, the focus of evidence shifted from Natalie Keepers numerous mental health disorders to the way she was interrogated.

The defense called James T. Trainum as its next witness to testify about police interrogation methods. It was established while the jury wasn't present, that his testimony would be used to talk about the method in which Keepers was interrogated. That interrogation lasted approximately 28 hours and happened over the course of a 35-hour period. Trainum watched those interrogation videos.

He testified that police investigators used what's known as the "accusatory" method of police interrogation. He said that can cause witnesses to become unreliable. 

"We are taught that we shouldn't use loaded questions," Trainum said.

He was then asked questions by the commonwealth. 

"Even if they break the rules of interrogation, can it lead to a reliable confession," asked Mary Pettitt asked.

"Yes," Trainum answered.

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10 :45 a.m. update

Dr. Mack testified that Natalie Keepers has six mental health disorders which include:

  • Depersonalization-derealization disorder
  • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
  • Borderline personality disorder
  • Dependent  and schizotypal disorder
  • Panic disorder
  • Persistent depressive disorder

The explanation of those disorders was repeatedly disrupted by objections from the commonwealth, and rephrasing requests from the defense in order to follow Judge Robert Turk's guidelines as to how this evidence would be presented.

Mack even asked for a two-minute recess to gather himself, seemingly frustrated by the interruptions. He gave an explanation of each disorder and how it would affect the hypothetical person.

He said that Depersonalization-derealization disorder is a subset of a dissociative disorder. He said Keepers presented a strong detachment from her emotions and that she experiences unreality, detachment or being an outside observer of her own actions and thoughts, perception of reality, feeling like she is in a dream-like state. He said the core issue is a detachment from herself that acts a protection mechanism that has occurred after years of build up of prior trauma. He said she has a problem with understanding her own reality. He said this coincides with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said Keepers reported flash-backs and nightmares. Not all of that explanation was presented to the jury.

Mack said borderline personality disorder causes individuals to be emotionally numb. He says this causes people a need to feel anything which can cause cutting or self-harm. He said these people are often unstable in terms of eating, relationships and especially in relationships with sexual partners. Mack testified those affected tend to be suicidal and feel chronically empty. 

"Under stress they become psychotic," Mack said. He said psychotic people are extremely out of touch with reality. He said that people with borderline personality disorder go in and out of psychosis, meaning in and out of reality. He said they border a reality and fantasy world.

He noted however that Keepers is not psychopathic, which is extremely different than psychotic. He said a combination of those disorders cause people who have them to be easily influenced and manipulated by other people because they don't have a true sense of self or reality.

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9:45 a.m. update:

The defense began the fourth day of the Natalie Keepers trial by calling an expert witness to the stand to testify about the mental health of Keepers.

Dr. Jonathan Mack, a forensic psychology and neuropsychology expert, was called to the stand. He testified that he performed a forensic psychological and neuropsychological examination on Keepers while she was in jail. He testified that he was paid by the defense to conduct the examination, but that does not influence his opinion of her mental health in any way.

Dr. Mack said that he interviewed her for several hours and put her through multiple psychological tests. In all, he said he spent between 18 and 20 hours with Keepers during her evaluation in April of 2016. He said she was administered approximately 38 tests.

He said that Keepers had a history of speech and language problems. After defense attorney John Robertson established the types of tests Dr. Mack performed on Keepers, he asked, "What is your opinion?" The Commonwealth objected and the jury was asked to leave the room while the judge discussed the objection. Before Dr. Mack would be allowed to answer his diagnosis of Keepers, Commonwealth Attorney Mary Pettitt wanted to make sure that only diagnoses that could relate to why she behaved the way she did during Nicole Lovell's murder would be introduced to the court. 

Judge Turk ruled that Dr. Mack must give his diagnosis of Keepers then explain how that diagnosis would hypothetically affect any individual.

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The fourth day of the Natalie Keepers trial is set to begin Thursday. 

Keepers is the former Virginia Tech student who is accused of helping David Eisenhauer kill 13-year-old Nicole Lovell in 2016. Eisenhauer will spend the next 50 years in prison. 

The third day of trial was centered around evidence, such as a shovel, Lovell's bloody 'Minions' blanket, and social media communications between Keepers and Eisenhauer. 

Surveillance photos and GPS analysis were also presented to the jury on Wednesday. The jury had viewed interrogation videos and heard audio recordings of Keepers earlier this week. 

Keepers has already pleaded guilty to concealing Lovell's body. She is on trial for accessory to murder before the fact. 

10 News Anchor Rachel Lucas will be in court Thursday. This article will be updated as new details emerge. 


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