Chapter 9: The Trial of the Decade**
Six months later, the Federal District Court of New York was packed with hundreds of reporters, cameras, and citizens outraged by what the media had dubbed *“The Grave of Greed.”*
Victoria Vance sat at the defense table in an orange prison jumpsuit, her former elegance stripped away, her hair unwashed, her face gaunt and pale. Beside her, Dr. Arthur Sterling stared blankly at the mahogany desk, having already signed a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
The prosecutor stepped to the center of the courtroom, holding up the heavy white satin pillow recovered from the casket.
“This wasn't a crime of passion,” the prosecutor addressed the jury. “This was a cold-blooded, surgical calculation. The defendants placed an alive, paralyzed six-year-old child into an airtight vault, fully aware that she would suffocate six feet beneath the earth within hours, solely to inherit fifty million dollars.”
The jury deliberated for less than ninety minutes.
“On the charge of Attempted First-Degree Capital Murder, we find the defendant, Victoria Vance, guilty. On the charge of Aggravated Child Endangerment, guilty. On the charge of Conspiracy to Defraud, guilty.”
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The judge leaned forward, his voice booming through the silent courtroom: “Victoria Vance, you are hereby sentenced to Life in Prison without the possibility of parole. You will spend every remaining day of your natural life reflecting on the breath you attempted to steal from an innocent child.”
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