NORWICH – The fate of Peter M. Wlasiuk will be placed in the hands of a jury this afternoon.

The defense rested its case Wednesday and closing arguments began at 8:30 a.m. today, starting with Defense Attorney Randel Scharf followed by District Attorney Joseph McBride.

Wlasiuk took the stand in his own defense at his first trial 2002, but decided not to testify at the current trial.

Broome County Judge Martin E. Smith said the jury will receive direction before their deliberation that the case against Wlasiuk is based on circumstantial evidence. “This court views this as a wholly circumstantial case,” said Smith, noting that there were no direct witnesses to the alleged murder.

Peter Wlasiuk was arrested on April 8, 2002 in the death of his wife Patricia, and a Chenango County jury convicted him of second degree murder in November of the same year. His conviction was overturned by the New York State Appellate Division in August 2006, citing “a litany of errors” that effectively deprived the defendant of a fair trial.

Wlasiuk, 39, is again charged with second degree murder in the death of his wife, whom he claims drowned in a Guilford Lake truck accident. Prosecutors say Wlasiuk suffocated his wife at their home in Oxford and staged the accident.