After a marathon deliberation lasting the better part of two days, a Limestone County jury found Mark Anthony Angus not guilty on all three counts of an indictment charging him with murder for hire in the killing of Michael Bryant.

Angus, 37, who has a speech impediment, stood after the verdicts were read and quietly said, “Thank you.”

“This process wouldn’t work without the jury system,” said defense co-counsel Marc Sandlin. “Mark has said since the first day that he didn’t do it. When my good friend Bob Massey called and asked me to assist with this case he said he believed Mark was innocent from the start, but these things can be difficult.

“There was absolutely nothing to connect Mark because there was nothing there. He had several chances to enter a plea and rejected it every time. He stood his ground and it worked.”

A grand jury indicted Angus for capital murder for hire, capital murder during first-degree burglary, and carrying a deadly weapon during first-degree burglary.

District Attorney Kristi Valls seemed almost at a loss for words.

“I’m disappointed with the verdict since a murderer will be walking the streets tomorrow,” said Valls.

Jessica Mitchell, 18, who had been pregnant with Bryant’s child when the gunmen entered their bedroom and shot him three times in front of her and threatened her life if she told, collapsed in tears after the verdict. She was comforted in the corridor outside the courtroom by Sheriff Mike Blakely. Valls said Mitchell still fears those connected with the killing.

Valls said she was ready to “go after the shooters next.”

James Mason Duncan and Joshua Loyd Southwick were indicted for capital murder in the Nov. 12, 2003, contract killing of Bryant. Duncan testified that Angus hired him and Southwick to shoot Bryant and supplied them with two 9mm handguns.

Neither gun could be traced to Angus. A state forensic ammunition examiner testified that unspent 9mm cartridges seized in a search of Angus’ home bore the same “bunter” or manufacturer’s tool marks as those recovered from Bryant’s body and from the mobile home where Bryant was killed on Hays Mill Road.

However, both the state and the defense ammunition authorities said that thousands, and possibly millions of CVC cartridges manufactured in Brazil could have been shipped to the Southeast U.S.

Angus also could not be connected by car title or a witness other than Duncan as the person who provided the money to purchase a car said to be part of the payoff for the murder.

Defense co-counsel Bob Massey of Pulaski, Tenn., had maintained since opening statements and throughout the trial that the investigation was incomplete and that is what led to Angus’ arrest.

“Had the investigation been concluded like it should have been, Mary Angus wouldn’t have been here or in jail for the past two-and-a-half years,” said Massey. “The jury system has vindicated him.”

Angus’ sister, Charlotte Watson, said she never lost faith.

“I knew God would not let them send Mark to prison,” she said. “God had His hand on this jury.”

Angus’ parents, Maglene and Malcolm Angus, both said they did not want to comment on the verdict, but appeared visibly relieved with Maglene Angus sagging against relatives ,who supported her.

Some jurors appeared visibly shaken with some of the female members of the jury in tears. The case went to the jury at shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday after two days of testimony. Jurors deliberated for nearly five hours Thursday and for about seven-and-a-half hours Friday.

Two times jurors sent word through bailiff Paul Reeves to request the judge re-read the definition of “reasonable doubt.” Another time they asked for an enlarged photo of the mobile home in which the crime occurred, and yet another time requested a magnifying glass.

“I can see you’re struggling with this verdict,” said Circuit Court Judge Robert Baker. “But I would like to say on behalf the court, the state, and the defense that you did an outstanding job. You undertook a difficult task.”

Baker told jurors they were free to discuss or not discuss their deliberations with the public and media. However, jurors quickly exited the courthouse with none indicating that they wanted to talk.