Notes from Day 9 in accused Tacoma Mall shooter Dominick S. Maldonado’s trial:

Verdict watch to begin

It’s official.

Deputy prosecutors and Dominick Maldonado’s attorney will deliver their closing arguments Thursday in the Tacoma Mall gunman’s trial.

Judge Linda Lee plans to give the jury its instructions for deliberating the case starting at 10 a.m.

Prosecutors will get their first say immediately following.

Then, defense attorney Keith MacFie will sum up the defense’s case before prosecutors get one more crack. The law allows them two chances because they have the burden of proof.

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Attorneys in the case of accused Tacoma Mall shooter Dominick Maldonado should wrap up their questioning of the last witness in the case early this afternoon.

That means Judge Linda Lee could deliver jury instructions before the close of business today, which would mean closing arguments tomorrow.

Jury deliberations could begin immediately thereafter, depending on what time it is when the lawyers finish up their final thoughts.

The trial has proceeded much faster than anyone imagined, mostly because defense attorney Keith MacFie has spent little time cross examining witnesses.

We’ll see how long deliberations take.

Burglars have put Habitat for Humanity up to a challenge.

The Tacoma-Pierce County chapter and its volunteers are working feverishly to finish up a blitz home on East 48th Street off Portland Avenue in the Reynolds Park development. The Tacoma home is set to be dedicated Sunday at 2 p.m.

Overnight, thieves stole $5,000 worth of tools and materials from the home after prying open a window, said Jill Kenly, director of communications for Tacoma-Pierce County Habitat for Humanity.

“It’s a heartbreaker,” she said Wednesday morning. “So now we are scrambling trying to get tools and materials

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No charges have been filed yet against a Pierce County corrections officer arrested Friday on suspicion of having an inappropriate relationship with a male inmate at the Pierce County Jail.

The corrections officer was scheduled to make a court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

Deputy prosecutor Mary Robnett said she did not file charges yesterday because more investigation needs to take place.

Stay tuned.

The names of the two homicide victims from the South End are still being withheld.

When I checked this morning (Wednesday), investigators were still working to confirm the identities and notify family. In addition, only one of the autopsies is completed. The examination on the other victim will be done today.

Hopefully, we’ll have some more information later today.

Notes and quotes from Day 8 of accused Tacoma Mall shooter Dominick Maldonado’s trial:

Long afternoon for Dr. Sack

Dr. William Sack, the one and only witness to be called on Maldonado’s behalf, spent about two hours on the stand Tuesday afternoon.

Under questioning from defense attorney Keith MacFie, Sack said he thought Maldonado was suffering from dissociative fugue the day he shot up the mall.

He said he thought the fugue was brought on by trauma in Maldonado’s past, specifically his alleged abuse at a law enforcement youth camp and his purported beating at

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The outcome of the high court’s decision in a Kentucky case could have an impact in Washington, where lethal injection is one of two means of execution. The other being hanging.

The investigation is continuing today into the weekend’s double homicide.

Police, as you may know by now, have found the SUV missing from the victims’ apartment. They’re getting a warrant to search it and process it for evidence.

They also are hoping to get surveillance video from Emerald Queen Casino to see if the cameras picked up someone driving the Isuzu Trooper into the lot. Tacoma police spokesman says the casino has some outside cameras but detectives didn’t immediately know whether they were trained on the right area yesterday.

Also, I just checked in with the

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