Grant claimed that, at that time, he went to wake up Gentle to leave with his mother while Amanda was supposed to be scanning the final contract for Laura. “Words were exchanged and Laura jumped Amanda as she walked away from the table with the contract. I was not in the room.”
Grant said that after he heard a loud noise, he ran back into the room and saw little Grant standing up looking over the sofa at his mother on the floor. “Amanda was in the nursery screaming, ‘Call the police. I want her arrested. Why did you leave her alone with me? Why did you leave the room?’”
Grant said that he slapped Laura’s face to try to bring her around and believes she died at the moment he attempted to raise her to a sitting position. During all of this, he said, little Grant was standing two feet away taking it all in.
He said his wife told him that Laura had threatened to take Lily from her and that Laura had grabbed Amanda’s hair and pulled her backward. Amanda, he said, claimed that in a reflex action, she slammed her elbow into Laura’s throat. When Laura released her, Amanda ran into the nursery, slamming and locking the door.
Grant alleged that all he was concerned with then was his three-year-old son. “Initially, I was more concerned about little Grant seeing his mother die and I didn’t want him involved in a police investigation. And all I could see was Child Protective Services coming in and taking all three of our children while there was an investigation. . . . Here I am, a black man in an apartment with a dead white lady who’s been suing me. . . . And being a black man for thirty-four years, I have a certain amount of paranoia and distrust for the police.” Nonetheless, he said, he told Amanda to leave and take the children, then planned to call 911. Instead, he started drinking and lost his nerve.
Grant said that if he had the chance to do it again, he would have called police so that they would have a record of Amanda’s story directly from her and not from his sister-in-law Karen Berry, whom he accused of lying to the court.
He said that he believed Karen had taken a deal to not be prosecuted in exchange for her testimony. “She was as much of an accessory as I was.”
Grant also claimed that the state framed him by covering up the truth, hiding exculpatory evidence and eliciting false testimony. “To establish the element of premeditation in first degree murder, they used lies—pure lies, unsubstantiated lies.”
He wrapped up his interview with a defense of Amanda Hayes, claiming her actions were the defensive reflexes of a mother defending her child and, thus, Amanda was not guilty of murder. “Laura got herself killed. I don’t blame Amanda. Amanda had a duty to herself and me to protect our child. . . . Justice would not be served if she were convicted of murder.”
CHAPTER FORTY
THE trial of Amanda Perry Hayes for the murder of Laura Jean Ackerson began with jury selection on Tuesday, January 21, 2014, in the Wake County Courthouse in Raleigh, North Carolina. Much of the prosecution’s case was a repetition of the material they’d presented in the trial of Grant Ruffin Hayes III. The defense’s case, on the other hand, was remarkably distinct from the previous proceedings. The story they would tell was a direct contradiction of both the one presented in Grant’s trial and the one in his television interview.
Opening arguments were delivered on the afternoon of Monday, January 27, 2014. Assistant District Attorney Boz Zellinger spoke first. “‘I hurt her. I hurt her bad. She’s dead.’ Those are the words of Amanda Hayes to her own sister. Those were the words of Amanda Hayes six days after Laura Ackerson came over to the apartment that she shared with Grant Hayes. Those are the words of Amanda Hayes hours before she and Grant Hayes deposited her body in a Texas creek. Those were the words of Amanda Hayes six days before Laura Ackerson’s severed torso would be found. ‘I hurt her. I hurt her bad. She’s dead.’ . . . You are going to learn that on July 13, 2011, Laura Ackerson woke up excited. She’s a twenty-seven-year-old mother of two little boys, Gentle and Grant IV. She shared custody of those two little boys with Amanda Hayes’s husband, Grant Hayes. You’ll hear that Grant Hayes left Laura for Amanda Hayes, an actress that Grant met in the US Virgin Islands.”
Zellinger described the contentious custody dispute and the excitement Laura had shown about the outcome of the custody hearing and her optimism about the success of her new business.
Zellinger continued, “This is a case that’s not just about a crime—it’s an inhumane crime. This is a case about killing a human being, and the barbarism and brutality that Grant Hayes and Amanda Hayes exerted on her body such that she disappeared off the face of the earth for eleven days.”
He noted that Amanda took her stepsons and newborn to a Chick-fil-A at a quarter to ten the evening Laura died, and “at two A.M. that night, Grant Hayes walks into the Wal-Mart at Brier Creek and you’ll see the amount of time that Grant Hayes is out of that apartment. Presumably, Amanda and those children and Laura are left there. And you’ll hear that Grant walked into that Wal-Mart and purchased a nine-foot-by-twelve-foot plastic tarp. You’ll hear that he bought some goggles and a couple pairs of gloves, Hefty Contractor extra large garbage bags. And, perhaps most importantly, you’ll hear that Grant Hayes purchased a Skil reciprocating saw with six-inch blades and he also bought some additional blades . . . And it’s going to be clear to you what the purpose was of those purchases. And you’re going to estimate and listen to how much time Amanda is home with the kids and presumably Laura’s body. You’ll hear that she had a cell phone there.”
Zellinger went on to describe how Amanda had her daughter come take the boys out of the house for most of Thursday, and how that Friday, when the custody exchange was supposed to happen as usual, “you’ll hear and you’ll see Grant Hayes go to this Sheetz gas station for hours. And you’ll see him outside on the phone. Pay close attention to who he’s calling at that time. And again, you’ll hear that Amanda Hayes is at home, alone, with her baby and Laura Ackerson’s body. After Grant stays at that custody exchange and, shockingly, Laura doesn’t show up, he leaves and comes back.”
The next day, Zellinger noted that “Grant and Amanda Hayes are out in town buying more items: three bags of ice, multiple coolers—pay close attention to where the coolers end up.” He told the jurors that Grant and Amanda asked Sha’s boyfriend to install a trailer hitch on the Dodge Durango and about the last-minute arrangements for the trip to Texas. Then, he turned to Grant picking up the U-Haul rental truck. “And you’re going to get to see his demeanor in that U-Haul facility . . . more time when Amanda Hayes is at her home with her children, by her cell phone, and presumably Laura’s body.”
Zellinger told the jury that Laura was reported missing on Monday, July 18, by her business partner Chevon Mathes, who spoke to Detective James Gwartney of the Kinston police. “Detective Gwartney hears about all these custody issues and decides to contact Grant Hayes. Play close attention to what Grant Hayes tells Detective Gwartney. You’re going to hear this testimony and you’re going to hear that Grant Hayes said that Laura came over to his apartment at 6:40 that day and you’ll be able to compare that to the telephone records and what time you think she arrived there.” The next day, July 19, “Detective Gwartney comes to Raleigh, since he’s learned that this was the last place that Laura was seen, and briefs members of the Raleigh Police Department.”
Zellinger notes, “Meanwhile in Texas, you’ll learn that Amanda Hayes that morning sits down with her sister and utters those words: ‘I hurt her. I hurt her bad. She’s dead.’ . . . [Then] later that day, Amanda takes some money from an ATM and she and Grant end up purchasing a thirty-two-gallon trash can, four boxes of muriatic acid and a couple pairs of gloves.” He told the jury about the creek across the street from Karen Berry’s house in Texas, the johnboat her family kept beside it and how Grant and Amanda used it to supposedly go on a nighttime fishing expedition.
“Around that time that they went out on that boat, you’ll hear that the Raleigh Police Department finds Laura’s
car. And they find that car in an apartment complex in a parking space that’s not four hundred yards from where Amanda and Grant Hayes lived. . . . And you’ll learn that when the detectives find Laura’s car in so close proximity to Amanda Hayes’s apartment that they execute a search warrant for Grant and Amanda’s apartment. And you’ll hear when they go there, right by the front door, there’s a big bleach spot and you’ll hear more about that bleach spot. And you’ll hear there’s another bleach spot right by the bathroom. . . . That bathroom was very, very clean—cleaner than any other room in that house.”
The prosecutor talked of the overlapping cross-country trips of Grant and Amanda and Detectives Dexter Gill and Bob Latour “like ships passing in the night” in opposite directions. “And they sit down with Karen Berry, and you’ll hear about Karen’s demeanor as she prayed before talking to them. And you’ll hear that Karen tells them about something, the things that occurred. About how Karen walked around the property with Grant and Amanda as Grant and Amanda asked if there is a septic tank or a hole or a river—looking for some deep place. And you’ll hear also hear that Karen told them, ‘I can’t stand the thought of standing in court and facing my sister after this but I’ve got to do what’s right. Please take care of her when you pick her up, please.’ . . .
“And at that point, the question in detectives’ heads—‘Where is Laura?’—is leading them across the street from Karen Berry’s house. . . . And there, for all of Laura’s family and friends, for Chevon, for the Raleigh Police Department, for all the folks at the Kinston police department their worst fears are realized. For there, in the middle of that creek, lies Laura Ackerson’s severed torso. Her head has been cut off, her arms have been cut off, her torso has been split in half. You’ll hear of the efforts that these investigators take to pull those body parts out of the water.”
Zellinger enumerated some of the witnesses ahead, then said, “And you’ll get to see Laura’s diary . . . where she says Amanda calls her psycho-crazy. Amanda looks at her with disdain. That Amanda says, ‘I’m now responsible for your kids because you’re psycho-crazy.’ Plus you’re going to see in that diary many things about Grant Hayes and the bitter, contentious custody dispute that Amanda and Grant were having with Laura Ackerson. You’ll hear Laura writes, ‘I’m afraid to approach this subject with Grant and Amanda, they act as if I don’t exist.’ And the whole time, you’ll be wondering, who would want to do this and make Laura disappear for eleven days? You’ll hear Laura wrote, ‘I’ve done nothing to them but to Amanda, I am psycho-crazy. It’s disturbing to deal with them about my children.’
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you’re going to hear how this custody dispute grew more and more contentious. You’re going to hear how angry and resentful Grant and Amanda were that Laura Ackerson was calling them every day and trying to get in touch with her children. . . . And you’re going to learn that on July 13, 2011, there were three adults in that apartment. One is dead, one has been tried for murder and one is here before you. You’re going to learn that Amanda Hayes is an actress. That she trained as an actress. That she performed as an actress. And that she attempted to make a living as an actress. Ladies and gentlemen, this isn’t a case about movies and it isn’t a movie, this isn’t a stage. This is a case about a murdered young mother and the two young boys who will never see her again and the role that Amanda Hayes had in her death.”
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THE defense did not deny that their client had played a role in the murder of Laura Ackerson, but instead worked to make the jury understand that Amanda’s involvement had not been of her own free will. Johnny Gaskins was bald on top with a long fringe of gray hair around the sides, somewhat reminiscent of Andy Griffith on Matlock. In a slow, plodding southern drawl, he began by saying, “I have to confess to you, after doing this for thirty-five years, I have spoken to many juries now and every time, I feel exactly the same way—very nervous. I have a very important role to play at this moment and I recognize that role. My job at this point is to help you to understand what it is that you are about to hear in this case.”
Gaskins said that the story was about “three primary participants. The first of those is Grant Hayes. Grant Hayes is the classic sociopath. On the one hand, he is very talented—he’s a talented musician, he is very charming, he is very witty, he is very charismatic, he is very intelligent. But on the other hand, he is also very controlling, he is very manipulative, he is very deceitful, he is very dishonest, and most of all, he is very dangerous. He’s already been tried in this case and has been convicted for the first degree murder of Laura Ackerson and for that he is serving life in prison without parole.”
The defense attorney pointed to the movie The Talented Mr. Ripley and explained that Grant identified with the main character. “That’s the sociopath that Grant Hayes believed himself to be.
“There are two victims in this case. One is Laura Ackerson. Laura believed that she was married to Grant. Grant had even deceived her about that. . . . She found out much later, it was not true, it was a trick. In the meantime, they had the two boys, little Grant and Gentle.”
Gaskins pointed out that as the custody date hearing neared, “Dr. Calloway had provided Grant with a copy of her report and her recommendations in it and he wasn’t happy with that at all. Now, as the time for that hearing approached, Grant and Laura were becoming more and more hostile to each other. The arguments were becoming more frequent. Amanda was playing the role of the peacekeeper. She tried to convince both of them that ‘the two of you need to get along, if not for yourselves than for the sake of your children. You need to try to put your differences aside and work this out in a way that best benefits little Grant and Gentle.’
“Now, the second victim in this case is Amanda. You’ll find that throughout the evidence that you will hear that there are enormous parallels in how Grant treated Laura and how he treated Amanda. How he manipulated both of them, how he controlled both of them, how he lied to both of them, how he deceived both of them, he treated them the same. Grant saw women as people who needed to be controlled by him. They needed to be submissive to him.
“Now, Amanda was living in St. John in the Virgin Islands. . . . At the time that Grant met her in St. John, she had $188,000 at her immediate disposal. She had $77,000 worth of jewelry. Grant had nothing. What he saw was the opportunity to maneuver himself into Amanda’s life so that he could get her money. . . . They got married in April of 2010. . . . By the end of 2010, seven, eight months later, Grant had all the money. He had sold the jewelry. He was off traveling around the country, at least doing musical gigs or pretending to do musical gigs—we don’t know which. And Amanda was the one who was left at home with the two boys. And then by July 2011, she had a baby of her own.
“Grant had managed to isolate her. He had her in the home and he was out gallivanting around the country spending her money. By July of 2011, she was broke. . . . And she and Grant were about to be evicted from the apartment that they shared in Raleigh. The plan at that time was that they’d move in with his parents, who lived in Kinston. There was nowhere else to go.
“So what happened on July 13, 2011?” Gaskins asked. “Arrangements had been made for Laura to come to Raleigh to take the boys to Monkey Joe’s . . . but she was running late. . . . At Grant’s request, she came to the apartment where Grant and Amanda lived together. What Grant wanted to do was discuss a financial resolution of the custody dispute. But she didn’t want little Grant and Gentle to hear him talking about the children in terms of money. So he asked Amanda to take the boys into the bedroom while he talked to Laura at the kitchen table. Laura and Grant sat at the kitchen table and worked out an agreement. . . . It provided that Grant would pay her twenty-five thousand dollars and she would drop the custody suit but could have visitation whenever she wanted with little Grant and Gentle.”
Then Gaskins offered up a completely new version of what happened that night. “Amanda wa
s still in the bedroom—she was back in the bedroom with Lily, her now one-month-old little daughter and the two little boys. She came out of the bedroom, walked over to the table and saw the two of them—Grant and Laura—writing out this settlement agreement. Laura asked her if she could hold Lily and Amanda simply turned around and walked away. . . . Laura came up behind her and tripped over the rug and when she did, she bumped into Amanda’s back and Amanda called out for Grant. Grant grabbed Laura from the back, in an effort to pull her away, and when he did, Grant—the two of them, Grant and Laura—tripped and fell to the floor.
“Amanda continued on into the bedroom. A few minutes later, Grant . . . told her he was going to have to call EMS to come attend to Laura and he would help her into the bathroom while Amanda took Lily and the boys out of the house—take [them] for a ride, have dinner, or whatever, while EMS took care of Laura,” Gaskins said, so she left with the children. When they returned, “Amanda asked Grant, ‘Where is Laura?’ And what he tells her is: ‘As it turns out, everything was fine. She’s okay. She’s left. She’s gone back to Kinston.’
“Amanda went to bed believing that everything was fine. There was nothing to indicate that anything bad had happened. She believed that Laura was back home. She goes to bed and Grant leaves—leaves the apartment at some time around midnight. . . . We have tracked Grant’s movement during that three-day period. . . . We can tell you with a great deal of precision where we think he killed Laura. We can also tell you . . . where we think he dismembered her body. Amanda had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Gaskins insisted. “She did not know that Laura had been killed. She did not know that Laura had not returned home just as Grant had told her. He concealed everything that he did . . . from her for the next three days.”
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