Kilgore v. State

305 S.E.2d 82 (1983)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Roger Norman was traveling south on Interstate 59 to his home in Alabama. While driving, he was shot in the head and killed. George Lee, a trucker, testified that on this morning he was driving north on I-59 when he observed two cars traveling beside each other going south. He testified that he heard a shot and saw Norman's car veered off the highway. Norman was driving a 1980 burgundy colored Lincoln. At trial, the state introduced evidence of a conspiracy to kill Roger Norman and evidence of three previous attempts on Norman's life. Oldaker testified about the first attempt. Greg Benton, his cousin, asked him to go with him to Alabama, Norman's home with the purpose killing Norman because a crippled man named Tom, who sold pharmaceuticals and lived in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, wanted Norman killed. Tom was Norman's brother-in-law and lived in Soddy-Daisy. He was a paraplegic. Oldaker and Benton went unsuccessfully attempted to kill Norman. D was connected with the second attempt. Ed Williams testified that he saw two cars traveling close to each other while crossing a bridge over I-59; that he heard sounds like a car backfiring; and that Norman's car pulled into the truck stop while the other car turned north on I-59. Norman had been shot in the upper back. Sheriff Steele of Dade County testified that based on what Norman told him, he posted a lookout for a 1962 or 1963 Rambler with a dark bottom, white top, and Tennessee tags. D's ex-girlfriend, Chambers, testified that on June 8, 1981, D and his cousin, Lee Berry, borrowed her 1964 Rambler. It had a dark green body, white top, and Tennessee tags. She testified that D returned to her apartment around 4:00 a.m. the next morning and told her they had killed a man near Trenton, Georgia. Later that day, Chambers testified that D received a phone call from Tom Carden, during which she heard D say 'apparently, we didn't get him' and 'there is no need in getting anybody else to do it, we'll take care of it.' After this call, Chambers accompanied D to a wooded area near Tom Carden's trailer where D picked up nine hundred dollars. Chambers testified that on June 15, 1981, D received a phone call from Carden, during which she heard D tell Carden he needed more money to obtain a faster car and another man to help him. D went to Carden's and picked up fifteen hundred dollars. On July 5, 1981 D received another call from Carden, after which she and D drove to Carden's trailer where D took fifteen thousand dollars from the mailbox. They drove to a V.F.W. post where they met Bob Price. D took a rifle out of his car, put it in Price's van, and left with him, while she drove home alone. The next day D told Chambers that he and Price had attempted to kill a man between Knoxville and Chattanooga but were unsuccessful. On the day preceding the murder, D and Price left her apartment about 6:00 p.m., each in a separate vehicle but driving in the same direction. She did not see D until noon the next day, July 8, when, she testified, he returned driving a blue Lincoln. She testified that at about 3:00 p.m. that day she and D left to go to Florida, and Chambers' mother testified that before they left D gave her sixty dollars from a wad of money he said contained five thousand dollars. Chambers testified that on the way home from Florida, D told her that 'all mighty hell is going to break loose, . . . we killed a man'; that they [he and Price] had killed him on I-59 just outside of Trenton. Tom Carden died at his trailer in Soddy-Daisy. No autopsy was performed, and the death certificate lists the cause of death as acute fulminating respiratory infection. Chambers testified that D told her he and Price had given Carden a drug overdose because 'he knew too much.' D made several incriminating statements which were admitted at trial. D was convicted and appealed.