The verdict came after about five hours of deliberation over two days, according to the Baltimore Sun. Smith, 55, was also convicted of a weapons charge.
Smith told police that his wife, who was an engineer at an Army facility, had given $10 to a female panhandler who appeared to be holding a baby at an East Baltimore street corner, the Baltimore Sun reported. The woman had been holding a sign that read: “Please help me feed my baby,” Smith said, according to Newsweek.
Smith then told investigators that a male suspect had reached into the Smiths’ vehicle and stabbed the victim to death after fighting over a wallet.
The story received national attention, with Smith and his daughter, Valeria, giving tearful interviews. Oprah Winfrey had even tweeted about the incident, saying it would make her cautious to hand out cash to panhandlers.
But trial evidence about cellphone signals put the Smiths’ car in Druid Hill Park at the time of the stabbing, not at the street corner, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Investigators also looked at surveillance camera footage along the Smiths’ alleged route of the night of the killing.
“The defendant’s vehicle and panhandlers are nowhere to be found,” Assistant State’s Attorney Shaundria Hanna told jurors, according to the Associated Press. “There’s no panhandlers. It was all made up.”
In March of 2019, Keith and Valeria Smith were arrested in Harlingen, Texas, close to the Mexican border, Newsweek reported.
Earlier this week, jurors heard from Valeria Smith, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to acting as an accessory after her stepmother’s slaying, admitting to ditching her stepmother’s purse at a bus stop to support the panhandler story.
She testified that her father drove them into the park with his wife dozing in the front passenger seat and stabbed her. Afterward, Keith Smith coached his daughter on what they would tell police.
“The story was supposed to be it was a homeless person, or two homeless people, that had a baby, and Mrs. Jacquelyn was supposed to feel sorry for them,” Valeria Smith told the jury. “When she gave them the money, they stabbed her.”
Keith Smith declined to testify. His attorney, Natalie Finegar, told the jury that inconsistencies in Keith Smith’s story do not prove he killed his wife. They also told the jury they can’t trust his daughter.
Under Valeria Smith’s plea deal, she agreedto testify against her father in exchange for five years in prison. She would usually face 10 years. Her sentencing is set for Monday and she could be released on parole.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
