Prosecutors said that Wright was jealous of the friendship VanderGiesen had with Wright's former lover and that it turned to rage that drove Wright to kidnap VanderGiesen, kill her, burn the body and cut it apart with a chain saw.

VanderGiesen's remains were found in a Sioux Falls landfill and a Minnesota ditch.

The Prosecutor had this to say after losing the death case:

In closing arguments earlier in the day, prosecutor Dave Nelson said Wright, who like VanderGiesen is deaf, deserved to die by lethal injection because the mutilation was the act of a depraved mind. But he said he respected the jury's verdict.

"I think they reached this decision independently of any of the diversions of race, of deafness or anything else. I think they decided this case on the evidence," he said.

The defense attorney had a different view:

Wright's public defender, Jeff Larson, argued that she burned and cut the body as an afterthought and that the slaying was an isolated act motivated by jealousy.

The jury, who had the ultimate say, decided:

After about eight hours of deliberation, jurors found that Wright had the depravity of mind, but they decided that she should not be executed for it.

The prosecutor argued:

Nelson told jurors their verdict would be just if they treated both women equally. VanderGiesen was white and heterosexual; Wright is a black lesbian.

Both women received a death sentence in the sense that Wright will only leave prison when she's dead and carried out in a pine box. Her life until she dies will be lived in the hellhole of the S.D. prison system. Her life, as she knew it, was effectively over the day she was convicted.

I'm always ready to praise a jury that returns a life sentence. They brought their years of life experience to the table and decided no matter how horrid the facts,Wright didn't deserve to die. Kudos to her , the jury and her defense team for a job well done.