MADISONVILLE-Jessica Kennedy lived through a horrific childhood, but does that mean she did, or did not kill Jim Miller in July 2010?

Defense attorney John Eldridge appeared to lay out a defense that showed Kennedy was browbeat and intimidated into giving a false confession to TBI and Monroe County Sheriff's officers in November, 2010. On Friday, he brought in a psychologist to testify to the experiences Kennedy had lived through in her life.

Kathryn Smith said she interviewed Kennedy for more than 12 hours and was able to diagnose her as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe depression, schizophrenia, has a history of substance abuse and is bi-polar.

"Her whole life has been documented," Smith said, "which is very unusual. She vastly underreported to me what has happened to her."

Smith said Kennedy, 29, had suffered neglect and physical and sexual abuse as a child, starting at the age of 4.

"There were three people convicted for abusing her," Smith said. "Two stepfathers and an uncle who also abused her sisters and brothers (Kennedy is the oldest of seven children). She was given marijuana at the age of seven and was hospitalized for mental health problems by the age of eight."

Smith said Kennedy was moved around a lot and was in and out of child protective services. 

"The family," she said, "was basically trying to avoid the child protective services and went from state to state (Kennedy spent most of her childhood in Indiana)."

Smith said Kennedy wasn't suicidal, but had a pattern of thinking she might be better off dead.

"She's a very disturbed person," Smith said, "and carries that with her everywhere she goes. She doesn't see idle threats. She knows bad people do bad things. Everything will be OK is not what she knows. Horrible things happen to women in her world. She's just really scared."

Another avenue Eldridge seems to be pursuing is one of somebody else having killed Miller and he brought in two witnesses who have both been named in Kennedy's stories, including former Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Kenny Hope.

Hope was one of the first suspects named in the case after he allegedly told people he'd been the one to kill Miller.

Hope said on the stand the only contact he'd ever had with Miller was when he gave him a speeding ticket. "He was running blue lights in his car," Hope said, "and speeding for no reason and I pulled him over. He didn't like it. He thought he was above the law."

Miller was an auxiliary officer for the Loudon County Sheriff's Office and had his car equipped with lights and sirens.

Eldridge asked Hope if he'd claimed he killed Miller and Hope said he didn't.

"I said nothing about killing Jim Miller," Hope told the jury. "It was all political and I got dragged into it."

With the jury out of the courtroom Thursday, Hope denied his wife had been having an affair with Miller and he became upset about it.

"I'd been divorced three or four years by the time Miller was killed," Hope said. "I don't think my ex-wife even knew who Miller was."

Hope said he told investigators where he was when Miller was killed and they had receipts and even video to prove where he was telling the truth.

Hope's testimony was contradicted by two people, but their testimony also contradicted each other.

Brenda Stakely said she and her husband had taken Hope to Jim Plemons' home where Hope became extremely intoxicated and said he killed Miller and "burned him like the pig he was."

Stakely said Hope claimed he hated Miller and former Monroe County Sheriff Doug Watson and made the killing claim four or five times before he left sometime between 3 and 4 a.m.

Plemons, however, testified and that Hope said, "I killed the big bastard and put him in the trunk." Plemons said it shocked him so badly he took Hope home about 10 p.m.

The other witness was Wallace "Boonie" Stokes who Kennedy had named as the killer in a couple of her interviews with law enforcement. Stokes, who has spent time in prison in connection with the 1997 killing of Katherine Jean Frye, said he didn't participate in the killing of Miller.

"I just know what the papers put out," he said.

Stokes also said he hadn't sent texts to Kennedy that seemed to indicate he was involved in killing Miller, but would never admit to it. The texts also told Kennedy she might want to take a vacation.

Stokes looked at copies of the texts and said he didn't know what they were. "I've never even had a phone in my name," he said.

Stokes said he and Kennedy, who refused to look at him for most of his testimony, had carried on an affair behind Brandon Steele's back, but that was the only connection he had with her.

Testimony wrapped up at 4:15 p.m. Friday and Judge Walter Kurtz sent the jury home after telling them they would hear closing arguments and judge's instructions Monday morning, then they would go into deliberation.