Adeena Copell testified in court during a murder trial in connection with the death of Howard Vinge in 2016.

Prosecutors trying to convict Adeena Copell in the murder of a Newport man in 2016 closed their arguments Tuesday, describing her actions in tandem with her boyfriend, Christian Wilkins, who pleaded guilty to the murder earlier this month.

Copell’s defense painted her as subservient to a domineering partner and guilty of bad judgment, but not murder.

Howard Vinge, 71, was beaten to death inside his RV in September 2016. His body was dumped several days later down an embankment along U.S. Highway 30 east of Astoria.

Wilkins and Copell, who had lived with Vinge for about two months before his death, allegedly took his RV and sedan. They dumped the RV on U.S. Highway 26 in Hamlet after it broke down and drove the sedan to Arizona, where they were arrested.

In his closing statements, Deputy District Attorney Beau Peterson recounted Copell’s movements in unison with Wilkins before their arrest without any attempt to leave or contact authorities about the murder. He showed security footage of the two acting friendly while pawning Vinge’s possessions.

Peterson pointed to Copell’s changing stories about Vinge’s murder. Wilkins and Copell initially corroborated denials of Vinge’s murder. Copell later admitted that Wilkins had killed Vinge. She later attempted to recant her confession, arguing that they had killed Vinge in self-defense after he attacked them.

“Frankly, what you have is someone absolutely involved in, guilty of murder, lying and coming up with any story they can to get out of it,” Peterson told the jury. “I would suggest you think very carefully before you put any stock in anything Ms. Copell says.”

Copell’s attorney, Alexander Hamalian, argued that Wilkins drove the murder, the selling of Vinge’s possessions and the attempted cover-up. Copell was simply doing what she was told, he said.

The 12-person jury in Copell’s trial must decide whether she is guilty of murder or guilty by aiding and abetting Wilkins.

Hamalian has argued there is no DNA or other evidence showing her directly involved in Vinge’s murder, nor any corroborating evidence that she helped plan the crime. Copell’s presence in the RV when Vinge was murdered does not make her guilty, he told the jury.

“There is not a shred of evidence that (Adeena) Copell participated in the planning or commission of a crime,” he said. “There is none. The state wants you to speculate about that. They essentially want you to find evidence of what she did after the fact as evidence of committing the crime, but that’s not the law.”

During prosecutors’ closing statements, Hamalian attempted to have Judge Cindee Matyas declare a mistrial. He claimed Peterson had brought Copell’s character into question by calling her a liar, a violation of her rights to due process. Matyas denied his request.