Jury begins deliberation in woman's cliff death

HOMER, Alaska — A jury has started deliberating whether a man pushed his newlywed wife off an 800-foot cliff in Kachemak Bay eight years ago to collect on her life insurance.

Closing arguments were presented Monday in Jay Darling's murder trial.

Darling, 42, reported his wife of four months, Wanda Wood Darling, 23, had died after falling from an isolated bluff west of Homer while taking photos in 1997.

Darling testified during the three-week trial that he did not push his wife, who was afraid of heights.

His lawyers said the case against Darling lacked hard evidence, and included speculative theories about Darling's character and his admittedly unusual marriage, which seems more based on friendship than passion.

''There's been a lot of trial by hint here,'' said defense attorney James McComas.

But federal prosecutor Crandon Randell, who is handling the case for the state, said the case is about two things. ''She would never, ever be at the edge of that bluff by herself. And the insurance,'' he said.

In April 2003, Jay Darling was sentenced to 40 months in jail after pleading guilty to one federal charge of mail fraud for lying about his income when he tried to take out $3 million in life insurance on himself.

According to prosecutors, Darling told several friends he planned to get life insurance money by faking his own death in a kayaking accident so his wife could collect. His intention was to defraud life insurance companies of $3 million, authorities said.

At the time, federal prosecutors didn't say whether they believed Wanda Darling had participated in the alleged scheme.

He applied for the life insurance seven days after marrying Wanda Wood in 1997.

Last year, as Darling was due to be released on that fraud charge, a state grand jury in Kenai handed up the first-degree murder charge.

Wanda Wood met Darling at the Mississippi hospital where she worked as a nurse, according to her family. Her sister and mother said she was afraid of heights.

The couple had just moved to Alaska from Mississippi at the time of her death.

Soon after the Darlings married in April 1997, they began taking out life insurance, according to investigators.