The prosecution case was that three persons, including the wife of the murdered man Karthikeyan and his cousin, were involved in the murder.
Karthikeyan, his 21-year-old wife and their son were staying in Bhavani taluk in the district.
His cousin Saravanan often used to visit his house and developed an illicit relationship with his wife.
Though he warned her, she continued the relationship.She also decided to marry Saravanan and hatched a plan with him to murder her husband.
According to the prosecution, on February 11, 2013, Saravanan and his friend Mohankumar of Erode took Karthikeyan to an isolated place on the banks of River Bhavani and stabbed him to death using an empty brandy bottle.