Paul Kelly, Killer Actor

Paul Kelly in jail

The prosecutor, Robert Kemp, finally gave the jury some straight talk in his summation of the case. He accused Mackaye of being "an assassin" of her dead husband's character.

"Her testimony proved one thing: that her heart, instead of being full of love for her husband, her home and her child, was a pool of bitterness," Kemp said.

He then leveled his attention on the defendant.

"Kelly broke up Raymond's home, stole the affections of his wife, then went over to Raymond's home and beat him with his fists and caused his death," Kemp said. "Four of the Ten Commandments have been broken in this case. Can he violate the law of God and the law of man and get away with it?"

Courtroom spectators applauded as Kemp finished.

Many observers were surprised when deliberations dragged on for several days. At the end of the third day, jurors indicated to Judge Burnell that they were deadlocked ten to two in favor of a manslaughter conviction.

Burnell suggested they sleep on it. The next morning, the verdict became unanimous.

As Burnell prepared to announce the sentence, Kelly gripped the arms of his chair with such force that his knuckles went white. He sighed as Burnell spoke: one to ten years at San Quentin. Later, while nervously puffing on a cigarette, Kelly told reporters, "I guess the jury said what they thought was right."

A few weeks later, in a separate trial, Dot Mackaye was convicted in the cover-up and sent away to San Quentin for one to three years. Journalists covering that trial reported that Mackaye was "stunned" by the sentence.

Charges against Dr. Sullivan were dropped.