NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jurors began deliberations Wednesday afternoon in the trial of a former Nashville attorney accused of killing his wife and disposing her body 10 years ago.

The panel of six men and six women retired to deliberate the case against 45-year-old Perry March after a Davidson County prosecutor urged them to have the "courage" to return guilty verdicts on counts of second-degree murder, evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse.

March faces 33 years in prison on the charges stemming from the disappearance of his 33-year-old wife, Janet March, whose body was never found.

"It's been 10 years that this man hasn't been held accountable for his actions on Aug. 15, 1996," prosecutor Tom Thurman said in his closing argument. "This case been called the Perry March case, but it's also the Janet March case."

The children's book illustrator and mother of two was last seen on Aug. 15, 1996, when her husband claims she stormed out of their West Nashville home with her bags packed following an argument. Davidson County prosecutors believe that March killed her in a rage and buried her body when she informed him of her plans to divorce him.

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With little forensic evidence linking March to his wife's death, prosecutors called 47 witnesses to support their theory that his behavior after Aug. 15 belied a guilty conscience.

The defendant's father testified that he buried his daughter-in-law's body, whom he characterized as a "Jewish-American princess," at his son's request. He also said his son asked him to dispose of the computer hard drive from the March home, for which March is charged with evidence tampering.

Two jailhouse informants testified that March admitted to killing his wife. Jurors also heard three hours of audiotaped conversations between March and a third jailhouse informant in which they plotted to kill March's in-laws.

The jury does not know that March was convicted in June of charges stemming from the plot. If the jury in this case convicts him, he faces life in prison when he is sentenced for all the charges.

Defense lawyer William Massey urged the panel against making an "astounding" and "precarious" leap of logic by finding March guilty when prosecutors could not even prove his wife was dead. (VIDEO)

He also accused Janet March's parents of using psychics and political power to steer the investigation toward her husband.

"They couldn't accept that there wasn't an answer, they couldn't accept the uncertainty," Massey told jurors as Janet March's parents, Carolyn and Lawrence Levine, sat stone-faced in the gallery. "The only thing they could come up with was pointing the finger at [Perry March]."

Massey showed the panel several poster boards listing the names of the lakes, rivers, quarries, parks and building foundations where police had searched for Janet March's body, sometimes at the advice of psychics hired by her parents.

Massey also suggested that the jailhouse snitches were paid witnesses that authorities hired to gather evidence in an otherwise flimsy case.

"They're giving them something far more valuable than money," Massey said. "What would happen if I did that?"

Thurman characterized Massey statement's as an "affront" to the D.A.'s office and pointed out that authorities were able to corroborate the statements.

Prosecutor Katy Miller also reminded the jury of testimony from Janet March's family and friends, who said that the 33-year-old victim was a loving and caring mother who would have never abandoned her family, especially her children, to escape her marital problems.

"Would a mother like this miss her son's sixth birthday party? Would she miss her son's first day of school?" Miller said. "Can there be any doubt in your mind she's dead? She's dead and she was murdered by this man." (VIDEO)

Members of the public, including two jurors from March's conspraicy trial, filled the courtroom to capacity for closing arguments in what has become the most highly anticipated case in Nashville's recent history.

The trial is being shown live on Court TV Extra.