Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 6, 2006 18:25:47 GMT -5
Jones murder trial begins
If convicted, accused faces death penalty
In Bayboro, opening statements and testimony from the daughter of a
Merritt couple stabbed and beaten to death in their home in 2003 marked
the 1st day of the Vaughn Antonio Jones 1st-degree murder trial on
Tuesday.
Jones is accused of the Jan. 13, 2003, double murder of Richard and Rosa
Flowers, who owned Custom Steel Boats in Merritt.
The couple's daughter, Teresa, sobbed and was teary during most of her
hour-and-a-half examination by retired District Attorney W. David
McFadyen, who returned to prosecute the case.
She testified before a jury of 7 women and 5 men that she and her brother,
Rodney, discovered the bodies of their parents early on Jan. 14, after
Richard Flowers did not show up for work at his boat shop across the
street from his Alligator Loop Road home.
She said there was blood on a seldom-used front door and the porch light
was on. The siblings tried to enter a locked, back screened porch, forcing
the door open after looking through a window and seeing their mother on
the floor in the hallway.
Teresa Flowers said her brother told her that her mother was dead, and
while she called 911, her brother found her father dead in his bedroom.
In opening statements, McFadyen indicated that expert testimony would be
forthcoming, linking DNA from Jones to a combined blood spot on the front
door containing Richard Flowers blood. He questioned the thoroughness of
the investigation.
"We submit they did not do a very good job," he said.
McFadyen earlier said that testimony would prove that Jones was a chronic
cocaine abuser who lied to investigators about his whereabouts the night
of the murder. He said witnesses would testify Jones had a large sum of
money and cocaine with him. McFadyen said Jones told Pamlico County
investigators he had no money before or after the murders.
Tuesday's trial started after an extensive jury selection process from a
county record 500-person jury pool. Flowers will return to the stand this
morning.
Jones, dressed in a white shirt, tie and light brown slacks, sat
tight-lipped throughout the proceedings, occasionally taking notes and at
other times resting his chin on his clasped fists.
McFadyen said the Flowerses were both beaten and then stabbed with a
butcher knife from the couple's kitchen.
Teresa Flowers testified that her mother carried large amounts of cash in
her purse, and that her father normally carried more than $500 in clean,
new $100 bills in his wallet, along with spending money.
She said the only items out of order when she and her brother entered the
home that morning was her mother's ransacked pocket book in the living
room and the suspected murder weapon being out of place.
Jones worked at the boat company and also did odd jobs around the couple's
home.
At the time of the couple was killed, Jones was on parole for the
attempted murder of his girlfriend several years earlier.
Before the trial, Jones was offered a plea bargain to avoid the death
penalty that prosecutors will seek. Officials say Jones turned down the
offer.
Jones was questioned the day of the murder. He was arrested at his
mother's home 17 hours later by Pamlico County sheriff's deputies.
(source7: The New Bern Sun Journal)
If convicted, accused faces death penalty
In Bayboro, opening statements and testimony from the daughter of a
Merritt couple stabbed and beaten to death in their home in 2003 marked
the 1st day of the Vaughn Antonio Jones 1st-degree murder trial on
Tuesday.
Jones is accused of the Jan. 13, 2003, double murder of Richard and Rosa
Flowers, who owned Custom Steel Boats in Merritt.
The couple's daughter, Teresa, sobbed and was teary during most of her
hour-and-a-half examination by retired District Attorney W. David
McFadyen, who returned to prosecute the case.
She testified before a jury of 7 women and 5 men that she and her brother,
Rodney, discovered the bodies of their parents early on Jan. 14, after
Richard Flowers did not show up for work at his boat shop across the
street from his Alligator Loop Road home.
She said there was blood on a seldom-used front door and the porch light
was on. The siblings tried to enter a locked, back screened porch, forcing
the door open after looking through a window and seeing their mother on
the floor in the hallway.
Teresa Flowers said her brother told her that her mother was dead, and
while she called 911, her brother found her father dead in his bedroom.
In opening statements, McFadyen indicated that expert testimony would be
forthcoming, linking DNA from Jones to a combined blood spot on the front
door containing Richard Flowers blood. He questioned the thoroughness of
the investigation.
"We submit they did not do a very good job," he said.
McFadyen earlier said that testimony would prove that Jones was a chronic
cocaine abuser who lied to investigators about his whereabouts the night
of the murder. He said witnesses would testify Jones had a large sum of
money and cocaine with him. McFadyen said Jones told Pamlico County
investigators he had no money before or after the murders.
Tuesday's trial started after an extensive jury selection process from a
county record 500-person jury pool. Flowers will return to the stand this
morning.
Jones, dressed in a white shirt, tie and light brown slacks, sat
tight-lipped throughout the proceedings, occasionally taking notes and at
other times resting his chin on his clasped fists.
McFadyen said the Flowerses were both beaten and then stabbed with a
butcher knife from the couple's kitchen.
Teresa Flowers testified that her mother carried large amounts of cash in
her purse, and that her father normally carried more than $500 in clean,
new $100 bills in his wallet, along with spending money.
She said the only items out of order when she and her brother entered the
home that morning was her mother's ransacked pocket book in the living
room and the suspected murder weapon being out of place.
Jones worked at the boat company and also did odd jobs around the couple's
home.
At the time of the couple was killed, Jones was on parole for the
attempted murder of his girlfriend several years earlier.
Before the trial, Jones was offered a plea bargain to avoid the death
penalty that prosecutors will seek. Officials say Jones turned down the
offer.
Jones was questioned the day of the murder. He was arrested at his
mother's home 17 hours later by Pamlico County sheriff's deputies.
(source7: The New Bern Sun Journal)