stephenson's attorney claimed oberholtzer had committed suicide, saying the rapist could not have anticipated her behavior. the prosecution countered that based on medical testimony to the effect that prompt medical attention might have saved her life. during closing statements, the prosecutor decried stephenson as a "destroyer of virtue and womanhood". the jury found him guilty of second degree murder, rape, and kidnapping, and the court sentenced him to life in prison. the state supreme court rejected his appeal. this case is still taught in law schools as showing an enlargement of the causal relationships that define homicide.