Madison Wine, left, enters the Wood County Circuit courtroom before being found guilty Thursday. Also pictured are defense attorneys Beth and Ryan Umina. (Photo by James Dobbs)

PARKERSBURG — After three hours of deliberation, a Wood County jury found Madison Wine guilty of four counts of murder and one count each of arson, attempted murder and cruelty to animals after a four-day trial.

Wine was charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and felony murder in the May 2019 deaths of her adoptive parents, Robert and Charolette Taylor; first-degree arson for starting the fire that killed them; the attempted murder of a minor in the house; and cruelty to animals in relation to three dogs that died in the blaze.

Wine was 16 years old at the time of the fire.

Roane County Prosecutor Josh Downey, appointed to represent the state after a defense motion to disqualify the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office was granted due to issues related to the county Sheriff’s Department, explained that first-degree murder is the intentional, willful killing of someone, while the felony murder charge does not require intent, but is caused due to a certain crime, in this case arson.

Wine’s sentencing is scheduled for 11 a.m. June 27. Each of the four murder charges carries a potential life sentence.

Wood County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Beane reads the verdict of the jury at the Holmes R. Shaver Judicial Annex Thursday during the Madison Wine murder trial. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Since Wine was a minor while committing the acts, she will be eligible for parole in 15 years, regardless of the sentence she gets, said Downey.

Downey said he felt the jury did a good job listening to the facts that were presented in this case, as well as the deep topics that were discussed.

“I thought we had a strong case; I felt that from the beginning,” he said. “We’re happy with the verdict and it was the right verdict.”

Downey said there weren’t really any surprises during the trial.

“They (the defense) believe strongly in their case, and they did an excellent job defending Madison,” he said. “I think they made any defense that was there.”

From left defense attorneys Ryan Umina and J. Morgan Leach, defendant, Madison Wine, defense attorney Beth Umina, Roane County Prosecuting Attorney Josh Downey and Deputy State Fire Marshal Jason Baltic can be seen after the verdict is called during the Wine murder trial. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Closing arguments were made Wednesday afternoon, and deliberations began Thursday morning.

Downey said he believes the 45-minute statement Wine made to Deputy West Virginia Fire Marshal Jason Baltic was a key part of the case. The jury listened again to the statement Wine made as well as her phone call to 911 at the start of deliberations Thursday.

“I think that helped show a young lady who was in control of her emotions, was in control of her actions,” he said.

During his closing argument, Downey mentioned a 10- to 15-second pause Wine took before answering no in her statement that she made to Baltic, when he asked her if she meant to hurt anyone.

“I’ve been doing this for about 14 years now; I would think that was a strong piece of evidence for the jury,” he said.

The defense argued Wine was not guilty by reason of mental illness. In the closing argument Wednesday, attorney J. Morgan Leach said the traumatic events in Wine’s life resulted in mental illnesses that impacted her ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct on the night that she started the fire.

James Dobbs can be reached at jdobbs@newsandsentinel.com.