HOUSTON – A jury is deliberating the fate of a pastor's mistress accused in his wife's murder.
Rev. Tracy Burleson's wife, Pauletta, was shot to death at their home on Greenloch Lane near Greenrock Lane in northeast Harris County on May 18, 2010.
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Prosecutors said Tracy Burleson paid his son, William Darnell Fuller, 21, $2,000 to kill Pauletta Burleson.
Detectives said Tracy Burleson's mistress was also in on the killing. Tyonne Palmer, 32, was charged with capital murder and tampering with evidence.
Palmer said she began dating Tracy Burleson in December 2009. She said she thought he was separated from his wife.
The defense portrayed Palmer as a lovesick divorcee who desperately wanted to please Tracy Burleson.
"He played Tyonne Palmer," defense attorney Tyonne Palmer said. "He used her. He led her to believe he loved her."
"She was in love with Tracey Burleson," prosecutor Caroline Dozier said. "She was obsessed with Tracy Burleson, and she would stop at nothing to be with him."
Palmer has admitted to lying to investigators after Fuller told her he allegedly killed Pauletta Burleson. She admitted that she gave Fuller a ride home that night and stopped the car to let him ditch the murder weapon.
"I was scared," Palmer said during her testimony on Tuesday. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what he expected me to do."
Palmer admitted that she slept with Fuller after learning that he allegedly killed Pauletta Burleson. She said that by that time she had come to fear him.
Earlier in the trial, Fuller became agitated during his testimony and began yelling and pointing at Palmer.
Osso asked for a mistrial and it was later granted, but he withdrew that request and the judge determined that the trial would resume.
Tracy Burleson was convicted of capital murder in September. Fuller is awaiting trial.