ALFRED — The jury is expected to begin deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday in the murder trial of Darlene George and Jeffrey Williams.

Justice G. Arthur Brennan gave the jury their instructions this afternoon after defense attorneys Paul Aranson and Joel Vincent made their closing arguments.

Brennan then gave the jury a choice: They could begin deliberations this afternoon, or come back and start Friday morning. The jurors opted for that latter.

1:27 p.m.

ALFRED — In her closing arguments today, Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese asked the jury to return guilty verdicts against Darlene George and her brother Jeffrey Williams, on counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Marchese said George was the mastermind of the June 20, 2008, murder of her husband, and Williams provided the muscle with backup from George’s lover, Rennie Cassimy.

Winston George wanted to divorce so that he could be with a woman he had met at work, Marchese said. Despite the fact that Darlene George had been in a longterm affair of her own, she was angry that her marriage was falling apart, Marchese told the jury.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Darlene George is no one to cross,” she said.

“This case is, pure and simple, about greed. She doesn’t want to lose her property and she doesn’t want anyone else having her husband.”

After the lunch break, attorneys for George and Williams will have their opportunities to give closing arguments at York County Superior Court.

Justice G. Arthur Brennan told the jury he expects to give them instructions and send them into the deliberation room after those closing arguments are finished this afternoon.

More than 20 people testified during the trial that began June 14.

11:20 a.m.

ALFRED — Closing arguments were to begin late this morning in the trial of Darlene George and her brother Jeffrey Williams.

They are accused of murdering George’s husband, 44-year-old Winston George, in Old Orchard Beach on June 20, 2008. They also face conspiracy charges.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations this afternoon.

10:41 a.m.

ALFRED — The brother of an Old Orchard Beach woman testified this morning that he did not help plan or carry out the murder of her husband on June 20, 2008.

Jeffrey Williams and his sister Darlene George are accused of murdering George’s husband, 44-year-old Winston George, on June 20, 2008. They also face conspiracy charges. Darlene George has opted not to testify.

Prosecutors claim that George, along with Williams and George’s longtime lover, Rennie Cassimy, came up with a plan to murder Winston George and make it look like a home invasion by strangers.

Darlene George called 911 at 5:45 a.m. on June 20, 2008. In that call and in subsequent interviews with investigators, she said three men wearing latex gloves and nylon stockings over their heads ambushed her and her 13-year-old son in their home at 56 Smithwheel Road.

George said the men tied them up and then attacked her husband when he returned home from work after midnight.

Police found George’s body in the basement. He had been strangled with a rope and suffocated with a plastic bag. A rum bottle had been put in his mouth through a small hole in the plastic.

Cassimy has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. He testified against Darlene George and Williams last week.

Lawyers for George and Williams have suggested that Cassimy crafted a story implicating their clients to secure a “sweetheart” plea deal from prosecutors with a recommended prison sentence of just eight years.

Williams today testified that Darlene George invited him to visit Maine on June 19, 2008, but when he arrived she told him she was too busy to spend time with him. Williams said he spent the night in a motel while Cassimy went out, saying that he was going to visit a friend.