Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 18:22:01 GMT -5
Man guilty in Elizabeth City State student's death
By LAUREN KING, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 19, 2006
Last updated: 10:57 PM
ELIZABETH CITY - Kyle Jaron Bunch was found guilty of first-degree murder Monday, and his sentencing phase will begin today.
Bunch, 24, could face the death penalty in the March 1, 2004, shooting death of Brian Jarrod Pender, 21, an Elizabeth City State University student. Pender was killed after masked men broke into his South Williams Circle rental home, where he lived with two roommates.
Bunch also was found guilty of first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
His trial began last week with two days of jury selection and three days of testimony from the state's witnesses.
According to testimony, Bunch and four others wanted to rob someone because they all needed money.
Robert Austin Hall chose the house across the street from his listed address, showed his co-defendants around the neighborhood, instructed them to search the victims for weapons and told them what to look for at the house, according to co-defendants.
What they were looking for was not revealed in testimony, however.
The robbery netted $65 and three cell phones.
Pender was killed after three of the men entered the house. Co-defendants identified the trigger man as Bunch. Hall and Carl Dennis Scales Jr., who drove to the house and provided Bunch with a pistol-grip shotgun, stayed outside, according to testimony.
Witnesses testified that the last man through the front door forced Pender to the floor and pressed a pistol-grip shotgun to the back of his head. Co-defendants identified him as Bunch.
On Monday, the defense called four witnesses before both sides presented their closing arguments.
Bunch's stepmother, Catherine Bunch testified that she remembered seeing Bunch on March 1 around the time of the crime.
The defense also called John Allen, who said he saw the pistol-grip shotgun used in the crime get wiped down by a cousin of Scales. It was the same cousin Scales had said he had borrowed the gun from and had returned it to after the shooting.
During closing statements, the defense argued that the jury should discount the testimony of some of the state's witnesses.
Hackney High, one of Bunch's attorneys, said that the plea agreements the state made with co-defendants Scales, Markie Jowan Ridthingy and Tornando Laron Simpson were powerful motives for the three to testify against Bunch.
All three pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year, and some had unrelated drug charges dropped. All are awaiting sentencing. Hall's case hasn't been scheduled.
High pointed to the courtroom exit and said that each of the three co-defendants made a beeline for the door when their testimony was complete and walked back out onto the streets.
"If that's not a powerful motivation to tell a story, then I don't know what is," he said.
District Attorney Frank Parrish compared the case to trying the devil and having to find the witnesses in hell.
"They are telling you not to believe the bad guys and to let the worst go," Parrish said in a thunderous tone and pointed at Bunch.
Parrish said the defense attorneys were asking that the jury dismiss any statements that Bunch was the one who pulled the trigger but to believe all the other statements that would incriminate the other co-defendants and Hall.
He also pointed out that the three who already had pleaded guilty were facing serious prison time. Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Parrish also reviewed the events of the night - sometimes acting out the most dramatic.
He lay down on the floor before the jury and asked how Pender could have provoked the defendant to shoot him while he was face down.
Later, he thingyed a pistol-grip shotgun - the sound echoed in the courtroom. H e dropped a large, heavy binder on the ground and reminded the jury that the state's firearms expert had said that it took 3 to 4 pounds of force to pull the shotgun's trigger.
It took the jury nearly two hours to deliberate and return the unanimous guilty verdicts to the court.
The jury will return today to begin the penalty phase of the proceedings.
Reach Lauren King at (252) 338-2413 or lauren.king@pilotonline.com.
© 2006 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com
By LAUREN KING, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 19, 2006
Last updated: 10:57 PM
ELIZABETH CITY - Kyle Jaron Bunch was found guilty of first-degree murder Monday, and his sentencing phase will begin today.
Bunch, 24, could face the death penalty in the March 1, 2004, shooting death of Brian Jarrod Pender, 21, an Elizabeth City State University student. Pender was killed after masked men broke into his South Williams Circle rental home, where he lived with two roommates.
Bunch also was found guilty of first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
His trial began last week with two days of jury selection and three days of testimony from the state's witnesses.
According to testimony, Bunch and four others wanted to rob someone because they all needed money.
Robert Austin Hall chose the house across the street from his listed address, showed his co-defendants around the neighborhood, instructed them to search the victims for weapons and told them what to look for at the house, according to co-defendants.
What they were looking for was not revealed in testimony, however.
The robbery netted $65 and three cell phones.
Pender was killed after three of the men entered the house. Co-defendants identified the trigger man as Bunch. Hall and Carl Dennis Scales Jr., who drove to the house and provided Bunch with a pistol-grip shotgun, stayed outside, according to testimony.
Witnesses testified that the last man through the front door forced Pender to the floor and pressed a pistol-grip shotgun to the back of his head. Co-defendants identified him as Bunch.
On Monday, the defense called four witnesses before both sides presented their closing arguments.
Bunch's stepmother, Catherine Bunch testified that she remembered seeing Bunch on March 1 around the time of the crime.
The defense also called John Allen, who said he saw the pistol-grip shotgun used in the crime get wiped down by a cousin of Scales. It was the same cousin Scales had said he had borrowed the gun from and had returned it to after the shooting.
During closing statements, the defense argued that the jury should discount the testimony of some of the state's witnesses.
Hackney High, one of Bunch's attorneys, said that the plea agreements the state made with co-defendants Scales, Markie Jowan Ridthingy and Tornando Laron Simpson were powerful motives for the three to testify against Bunch.
All three pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year, and some had unrelated drug charges dropped. All are awaiting sentencing. Hall's case hasn't been scheduled.
High pointed to the courtroom exit and said that each of the three co-defendants made a beeline for the door when their testimony was complete and walked back out onto the streets.
"If that's not a powerful motivation to tell a story, then I don't know what is," he said.
District Attorney Frank Parrish compared the case to trying the devil and having to find the witnesses in hell.
"They are telling you not to believe the bad guys and to let the worst go," Parrish said in a thunderous tone and pointed at Bunch.
Parrish said the defense attorneys were asking that the jury dismiss any statements that Bunch was the one who pulled the trigger but to believe all the other statements that would incriminate the other co-defendants and Hall.
He also pointed out that the three who already had pleaded guilty were facing serious prison time. Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Parrish also reviewed the events of the night - sometimes acting out the most dramatic.
He lay down on the floor before the jury and asked how Pender could have provoked the defendant to shoot him while he was face down.
Later, he thingyed a pistol-grip shotgun - the sound echoed in the courtroom. H e dropped a large, heavy binder on the ground and reminded the jury that the state's firearms expert had said that it took 3 to 4 pounds of force to pull the shotgun's trigger.
It took the jury nearly two hours to deliberate and return the unanimous guilty verdicts to the court.
The jury will return today to begin the penalty phase of the proceedings.
Reach Lauren King at (252) 338-2413 or lauren.king@pilotonline.com.
© 2006 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com