Cleared : Lloyd Erp was acquitted after being accused of murdering his wife Lori in a suicide pact . The scars from where he shot himself are visible . A man charged with murdering his wife during a double suicide pact that went wrong has been dramatically acquitted by a jury . Lloyd Erp has spent more than two years in jail waiting to come to trial over the death of his wife Lori . The court heard how the couple , from Portland , Oregon , had both signed a suicide note saying they wanted to to die on March 2 , 2013 . Mr Erp told the court that his 52-year-old wife shot herself twice in the head in their bedroom , before he took the rifle and tried to kill himself . He shot himself twice in the head , but survived . Police were called and Lori was found in bed . Mr Erp was arrested and charged with murder , and during the trial prosecutors claimed a post-mortem examination of Lori 's body suggested she had been shot by someone else . But on Wednesday Mulnomah County jurors cleared him of murder , after deliberating for less than a day . During the trial , a defence lawyer told jurors the Erps were deeply in love but suffered health problems and addictions to painkillers . They also faced losing their home because neither of them were in work . Mr Erp told the court he still missed his wife terribly , and some days still wants to die , according to a report by OregonLive . An earlier trial saw the jury reach deadlock - because they could not decide whether Mr Erp had shot and murdered his wife - and a mistrial was declared . But during the latest court appearance , prosecution lawyer Tom Cleary urged jurors to follow Oregon law , which said that if they believed Mr Erp fired the fatal shots they must find him guilty of murder . 'This is not a Death With Dignity case , ' the prosecutor said . The judge also instructed jurors that Oregon law does n't define murder as assisting another in committing suicide , such as handing someone a loaded gun . But state law does define murder as committing the actual killing , the judge said -- actually pulling the trigger even if the person wanted to die . Dr Christopher Young , deputy state medical examiner , testified that he determined Lori Erp did n't shoot herself but died by someone else 's action . Mr Erp 's 52-year-old wife Lori ( pictured ) was found dead at her home in bed with two shots to her head . Prosecutors alleged Mr Erp had tried to kill her , but he successfully argued that she had shot herself . However defence expert and former medical examiner Dr Michael Propst , said it was unclear whether the woman died by her own hand . Lawyer for the defence Kasla Rutledge added : 'People who are murdered in their sleep by their husbands do n't leave suicide notes . ' The report in OregonLive added that Mr Erp had not been allowed to attend his wife 's memorial service . 'This has been two long years that Lloyd has been in custody , waiting to be exonerated , ' Ms Rutledge said . 'He has not been able to grieve . He has not been able to process what happened and his survivor 's guilt . And now he gets a chance to do that . '
Lloyd Erp was accused of shooting his wife in Oregon while she was in bed . Claimed he and wife Lori had both signed suicide note and wanted to die . After she was shot Mr Erp shot himself twice in head with rifle but survived . Title: Why do we have a " right to privacy "? Cleared by jurors on Wednesday after spending two years in prison .