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In this story: Closing arguments Final testimony RELATED STORIES, SITES

JASPER, Texas (CNN) -- A Texas jury returned a guilty verdict on Tuesday in the murder trial of John William King, one of three white men accused of chaining a black man to a pickup truck and dragging him along a bumpy country road until he was decapitated.

The panel of 11 whites and one black took fewer than three hours to reach a verdict after prosecution and defense lawyers gave closing arguments earlier in the day.

King was convicted of capital murder in the death of James Byrd Jr., 49, who was dragged for nearly 3 miles last June.

King faces either death or life in prison. In order for the death penalty to apply, the jury had to believe the prosecution argument that Byrd's murder occurred while another crime, kidnapping, took place.

The same jury must now decide on a sentence -- execution by lethal injection or life in prison.

Murder trials for the two other defendants, Lawrence Brewer and Shawn Berry, have not yet been scheduled.

Closing arguments

In closing arguments, prosecutors called King one of three "riders coming straight out of hell" and tried to convince the jury he should be found guilty of capital murder.

Jasper County Assistant District Attorney Pat Hardy outlined evidence against King and said it was clear he killed Byrd.

"You saw it," he told jurors. "It was obvious the man was dragged to death behind a vehicle."

"After they dragged that poor man and dragged him to pieces, they dropped him at a cemetery to show their defiance to God and Christianity and everything most people in this county stand for," Hardy said.

King

King, an avowed white supremacist, is "a radical gang guy, to the extent he mixes his belief in satanic something or other," District Attorney Guy James Gray said.

In his closing, defense attorney Brack Jones concentrated on the kidnapping argument.

He acknowledged a "terrible, terrible brutal horrendous death."

But, he said, "The question is: Was Mr. Byrd kidnapped?"

Jones said he believed the tying of Byrd's feet and the dragging was the method of death and did not constitute kidnapping.

"We say the tattoo evidence doesn't prove kidnapping," he said, referring to King's many racist tattoos.

"Mr. King's writings do not prove kidnapping," he said, referring to numerous letters King wrote about forming a new racist organization in Jasper.

"I don't deny he made some racial slurs," Haden "Sonny" Cribbs, King's other attorney, said. "Not that I agree with that. But that is his right. You have a right to be a racist. Right or wrong, you still have that right. You have a right to even be a satanist, but that is our right."

Jailhouse letters King wrote in prison were introduced as evidence

Final testimony

The defense rested its case Monday, not long after the prosecution wrapped up its five days of testimony. King's lawyers called only three witnesses, whose testimony lasted under an hour. King did not testify.

In the eight months since his arrest, King has all but admitted his guilt in letters to inmates and the media.

"Regardless of the outcome of this, we have made history and shall die proudly remembered if need be," King wrote to Brewer in letters read in court on Monday.

Also on Monday, a pathologist testified that Byrd was dragged alive and in excruciating pain. When the pickup swerved into a left-hand curve, Byrd's chained body swung to the right, where he was beheaded by a concrete drainage pipe.

During the trial, prosecutors said King, an ex-convict covered with racist tattoos, had dreams of starting his own racist group in Jasper and had been waiting for an opportunity to make a name for himself and his fledgling white supremacy group, the Texas Rebel Soldiers.

Correspondents Susan Candiotti and Charles Zewe contributed to this report.