GRANBURY -- It took a jury less than 40 minutes to find a Hood County woman guilty of murdering her 73-year-old mother last year.

Brenda Kiernan, 50, faces a maximum of 99 years in prison for fatally shooting Natha Hudson with her .38 Special in the back of the head. The punishment phase of the trial continues today.

Kiernan left Hudson's body in the room where she was killed for perhaps as long as two weeks before calling authorities because a buzzard was circling their Pecan Plantation home.

Her attorney argued that the strain of caring for her demanding mother for years drove Kiernan insane and caused her to snap.

But after the verdict, a prosecutor said that Kiernan told too many lies during the initial police investigation for her defense to overcome.

Read more: Star-Telegram article

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