Death penalty for Oak Ridge resident Sean Finnegan? Jury deliberates

The 12-member jury that found Sean Shannon Finnegan guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping returned to Anderson County Criminal Court Tuesday morning to begin deciding whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.

Special Judge Don Ash told the jury the trial would be like the trial, only much shorter. He said they would probably leave the courtroom around 3 or 4 p.m. to decide Finnegan's sentence. He said they could work after dinner and into the night if necessary, or return Wednesday morning if necessary.

As previously reported, the jury found Finnegan guilty on Monday:

• Two counts of premeditated murder
• Manslaughter (instead of another charge of premeditated murder)
• Attempted aggravated rape
• Aggravated rape
• Serious kidnapping
• Particularly serious kidnapping
• Conspiracy to commit aggravated rape
• Conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping
• Abuse of a corpse
• Manipulation of evidence