By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – Prosecutors said Kirk Zimmerman wanted to erase a debt by killing his ex-wife, but the defense claimed the state’s case is a big speculation.

Those were some of the main points made during more than four hours of closing arguments Thursday in the McLean County first degree murder trial of Zimmerman, who is accused of shooting his ex-wife Pamela four times in her Bloomington office on November 3, 2014.

Prosecutor Brad Rigdon said Kirk Zimmerman was outspending his income by about $2,300 a month and received a letter from Pam demanding nearly $4,000 in back child support the day before she was killed. Rigdon began his two-hour closing argument by saying greed and hate led to murder. Rigdon said Kirk’s undoing was tracking of his vehicle via cell towers and his failed potential alibi when Pam’s last appointment of the day ran long and his girlfriend showed up early at his home for a scheduled date. Rigdon said Kirk apparently did not realize his car could be tracked via cell towers, which the prosecutor said placed the vehicle near Pam’s office on the night she died and on an earlier trip to Indiana which Rigdon said appeared to be for the purchase a gun.

Defense attorney John Rogers said the case should still be considered unsolved and called into question the investigation methods and prosecution witnesses. Rogers said police did not fully consider others as suspects, including Pam’s fiance and the last client she saw the day she died.  Rogers claimed no physical evidence linked Kirk to the crime, and criticized investigators for for gunshot residue testing and not fully considering other potential suspects. Rogers also said prosecutors mischaracterized Kirk Zimmerman’s financial situation as more dire than it was.

After a rebuttal of about a half-hour and jury instructions, Judge Scott Drazewski handed the case to the jury at about 4 p.m. The jury deliberated until nearly 6 p.m. before adjourning until 9 a.m. Friday.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].