Sentencing phase to begin Friday

CONCORD, N.C. – Jurors found Lisa Greene guilty Wednesday of first degree murder and first degree arson for setting the fire that killed her two children.

Greene, 42, began sobbing as the verdict was read.

Cabarrus County jurors deliberating in the murder trial had said earlier Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in connection with the January 10, 2006 fire that killed her son and daughter.

But at 4 p.m. Wednesday, jurors announced they had reached a unanimous verdict after roughly 14 hours of deliberations.

Earlier Wednesday, Judge Robert Bell told the panel of six men and six women to take a lunch break and continue deliberations at 2 p.m.

Greene is facing a possible death sentence for the murders of Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison Macemore, 8.

Greene’s father, siblings, and other relatives left the courtroom without talking with reporters.

Jurors were expected to hear testimony in a sentencing hearing on Friday morning. The panel can sentence Greene to life in prison or they can elect to sentence her to death.

Prosecutors have argued Greene was unhappy as a single mother and was dating a man who did not like children.

Investigators said the mother confessed to placing a burning blanket outside her children’s bedroom, trapping them in their home.

Defense attorneys said the fire was an accident, sparked by an overturned candle that had been left burning in the children’s bedroom.

The lawyers said detectives twisted Greene’s words into a confession and ignored key evidence that proved she did not intentionally kill her children.

The jury of six men and six women heard seven weeks of testimony from more than three dozen witnesses.

Much of the testimony focused on the origin of the fire.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, at the request of Cabarrus County prosecutors, built a full-size replica of Greene’s home at a Maryland laboratory.

An A.T.F. fire researcher said three separate fires set inside the $50,000 replica showed the fire could not have been an accident as defense attorneys had claimed.

Three fire experts testifying on behalf of Greene said the A.T.F. simulations were flawed.

Defense attorneys argued the replica was not an exact duplicate of Greene’s home and omitted materials that could have manipulated the results of the test fires.

WCNC's Tony Burbeck talked to some of Lisa Greene's neighbors, who say she deserves to be executed. Hear from them on WCNC News at 11 p.m.