It has been my observation that many marginal or disenfranchised white women are attracted to black men because the latter constitute a way of thumbing their nose at convention, of joining forces with another historically disenfranchised group and finding their lacking identity therein. These are not people who can be counted on to make elevated moral judgments.
Of course, this isn't close to true in every case, but here, where the depravity of the crimes is so obvious, any defense offered smacks of either duty, denial, or defiance. Something like the OJ jury, only non-binding.