Update: Jury Enters Deliberations in Troy Murder Trial

PONTIAC, Mich. – Was Hayes Bacall acting in self-defense or a fit of rage when he fired a dozen shots inside a small office inside a Troy gas station and killed his nephew?

That's the question posed Monday by attorneys to an Oakland County jury at a murder trial in front of Circuit Court Judge Rae Lee Chabot. Jurors will return at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to continue deliberation after failing to return a verdict late Monday afternoon.

Bacall, 51, of Farmington Hills, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime, in the shooting death of Saif Jameel, 33, of Sylvan Lake. Prosecutors said Bacall shot and killed his nephew over a $400,000 debt.

"Trust me, I will kill him. I will make sure I kill him." These were the words uttered by Bacall, according to testimony by Samer Bacall, the brother of Jameel, recounted during closing arguments by Ken Frazee, assistant prosecutor.

Jurors were shown video of Bacall entering Jameel's BP gas station, 2989 Crooks, knocking on the door to Jameel's office, entering and closing the door behind him. An audio file played during closing arguments included the sound of 12 shots, allegedly fired from Bacall's .40-caliber handgun.

The video also showed a witness in the office, attempting to leave. In the video, Becall can be seen firing the handgun. The video then shows Bacall and the witness leaving the office. The video then shows Jameel slumped over his desk in a pool of blood before his lifeless body slides to the ground.

"He went right in and did exactly what he said he was going to do," Frazee said.

Bacall, an Iraqi military veteran, told police after the shooting that he shot his nephew because Jameel owed him $400,000, according to testimony. Bacall was shown in a subsequent video taken from inside a patrol car where he said "He gave me hard time, all those years, he gave me nothing... I shoot him six, seven, times."

Defense attorney Mark Kriger said Bacall went to the gas station because his nephew had arranged to pay him part of the loan the previous month. Becall testified that Jameel became confrontational and he shot him because he feared for his life.

Kriger presented jurors with two handguns and an assault rifle that Jameel owned, as well as a photo of him posed like a "gangster rapper."

In closing arguments, Kriger claimed Jameel had a quick temper and said he had pulled handguns on other people in the past. The defense said Bacall fired his gun because he thought Jameel was going to get one of his own guns and shoot him.

A witness testified earlier in the trial that there was a short verbal altercation in the office before Bacall pulled his weapon and shot Jameel 10 times.

Bacall's son, Maher Bacall, said the incident and trial has been devestating to the family. "I lost a cousin and a father," he said.

He said he believes his father was acting in self-defense. "This was a crime of passion, this was self defense."

Jameel's sister-in law, Lolita Bashi, said he was a hard-working family man who often worked 80 to 90 hours a week.

"He loved his three children very much," she said. "They know he is gone and never coming back."

She said she didn't know Bacall prior to the shooting, but said the violence around the incident is troubling. 

"No matter what the situation," she said, "I feel you shoul never take the life of another living person – especially family."