Hometown Killer
Page 29
John and David said she had to come with them back “to the scene.” John told her the girls had to be buried. She got in the truck and went to the scene a second time. Dave also told Wanda that if she ever spoke to the police, she and Willie would die. Wanda claimed she never saw Robby, Willie, or Sapp at the scene, but she said that John told her that Robby and Willie were hiding there. Wanda said it might be that she just couldn’t remember seeing them there.
When they arrived back at the scene, John, David, and Boone began to cover the bodies with pallets and leaves and bushes. They laid flashlights on the ground so they could see what they were doing, covered the girls, and left. They went home and Wanda took a bath and went to bed.
After she did the laundry the next day, David told her that she had washed the blood out of his and John’s clothes. Wanda claimed she didn’t know there were bloody clothes in the laundry basket.
Wanda said when John was moving the flashlight, she saw a male in the bushes, but she claimed she couldn’t see well enough to see who it was.
When she first arrived on the scene the first time she was there, she and Boone just stood next to each other and watched Dave and John hit the girls with the rocks.
She never saw Boone do anything to the girls except help cover them up, the second time she was there. She said that if Boone ever assaulted the girls, it had to have happened before John called her. John and Dave later told Wanda that the truck they used belonged to Boone.
Wanda told the detective that she felt that she had blocked a lot of this out of her mind and that may be why she couldn’t remember some of the details. Wanda said she wanted to be put under hypnosis “to see if I can remember all of this.”
Sergeant Eggers questioned Jamie Turner that afternoon in his jail cell. It was the very first time that Jamie related what happened with no hesitation, without acting—as he had in the past—like he couldn’t think straight.
He told the detective that, other than himself, Alex Boone, John Balser, Wanda and David Marciszewski, and Bill Sapp were present behind the bakery when the girls were killed. It was the first time Jamie had said “Bill Sapp” to any of the investigators.
Jamie claimed that he had just met Sapp earlier that day at John’s house. John told Jamie that he had two girls (women) set up. Jamie went home to eat and Bill came by later and picked him up, driving a Dodge van. They picked Alex up at his house and then picked John and David up at their house on Light Street.
Jamie was in the back of the van and couldn’t see out to know where they were headed. Bill was driving and he stopped the van and told the girls to get in. They wouldn’t, so Bill and John got out and made them get in. They cruised around for a while drinking beer.
Everything was fine until they got to [behind] the bakery. They got out and Bill started arguing with one of the girls. Bill told Jamie to come over to where he was and hold the girl while he “had sex” with her (Martha). John also came to help. Jamie said Dave and Alex stayed with the other girl (Phree). He didn’t know what they were doing because he had his hands full holding Martha. Sapp hit her several times with a rock and killed her after “having sex.”
David and Alex kept Phree over by the van during the assault on Martha, so Phree didn’t know that Bill was raping Martha. When David asked Bill if he killed Martha, Bill said yes. Phree heard them and started screaming, so Bill put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
They all took her over by the pond. Bill started “feeling her privates.” Phree was fighting. Bill “had sex” with her while Jamie and Alex held her down. Jamie thought John and David were covering Martha’s body up at that time, but he wasn’t sure because he wasn’t paying attention to them. Bill was on top of her (Phree) while Jamie held one leg and Alex held the other.
After raping her, Bill picked up a rock and hit her. Blood splattered on Jamie’s shirt, so he jumped in the pond and tried to wash it off. Then John, Jamie, and David took turns hitting Phree with the same rock. Jamie said he never did see Alex hit any of the girls, but he (Alex) did “feel around” on Phree’s breast.
Suddenly Wanda “appeared from nowhere.” Wanda took one of the girls’ pulse and, talking to Bill, said, “She is still alive, kill her.” Bill picked up the same rock and hit her again. Jamie described the rock as being about 2½ to 3 feet across.
Jamie claimed he saw David Marciszewski “having sex” with one of the girls, but he wasn’t sure which one. He also said that David hit Phree with a big rock.
Jamie said he held one of the girls—once again, he wasn’t sure which one—while Bill killed the other.
He wasn’t sure what Boone did, if anything. Jamie was busy holding the girl.
Bill “had sex” with both girls and killed one with a rock and a stick. She fought him a little, but not much.
Jamie, Bill, John, David, and Alex covered the girls with sticks, bushes, branches, and crates. Jamie thought Wanda had left the scene by then. Bill took Jamie home and dropped him off and then left to take Alex home. John and David stayed behind.
Jamie at no time ever saw Willie or Robby at the scene and claimed “to this day” he did not know them.
Wanda knew Bill was at the scene because she spoke to him several times. Jamie said Wanda lied when she said she didn’t see Bill there.
While Sergeant Eggers did not believe that Jamie had told him everything, and some of what he told wasn’t true, it was the first time he had ever talked to Jamie and Jamie was able to provide any information without having to stop and go “pee.” That was Jamie’s usual defense mechanism when the questioning got uncomfortable for him.
In a very general way, and remembering that Jamie’s concept of “having sex” varied with each instance, this version of what happened on the night of August 22, 1992, is probably close to the truth. He, of course, omitted how Wanda got there and the fact that she was there twice. He also didn’t mention going to the Lion’s Cage—or Linden Avenue.
As Alexander Boone’s trial date drew near, his attorneys filed a motion to suppress the statements that Alex had given to the detectives, claiming the police had coerced Boone into giving a false and involuntary confession.
After Judge Gerald Lorig denied the motion to dismiss and the motion to suppress, a plea bargain was reached. On February 25, 1999, Alexander Boone pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse in Judge Lorig’s large second-floor courtroom in Clark County Common Pleas Court. Thirteen other charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea: four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of complicity to rape, two counts of complicity to kidnapping, two counts of felonious assault, one count of abuse of a corpse, and two counts of gross sexual imposition.
Steve Schumaker informed the judge that although Phree Morrow’s parents agreed with the plea bargain, Martha Leach’s family did not.
Boone, clad in a brown-and-gold-striped sweater, his hair shorter and not quite so unruly, was sentenced to two years in prison.
After the court proceeding, Alexander Boone still maintained his innocence, even though he had accepted the plea bargain. If he had gone to trial and had been found guilty of the other charges, he would have faced the possibility of a maximum sentence of life in prison.
There was no physical evidence against Boone. The prosecution would have had to rely almost completely on the statements of the other mentally impaired defendants. The prosecution believed that Boone had played a very small role in the deaths of Phree Morrow and Martha Leach, compared to the other defendants.
Although neither side was truly satisfied with the outcome, it seemed to be the best possible solution.
In April 1999, two years after William Sapp confessed to the three murders and the vicious attack on Helen Preston, he was brought to Springfield again so Judge O’Neill could decide whether or not he was competent to stand trial.
Since Sapp was considered to be a very high security risk, the county purchased a physical restraint belt (stun belt), at the cost
of $700, for him to wear in the courtroom. He was the first defendant in Clark County to wear the device, which can send an electronic charge much like a stun gun. The receiver is worn on a thick, wide belt, weighs two pounds, and is placed over the left-side kidney area of the prisoner. One of the deputies would be in charge of the remote control, which can deliver a shock from as far away as three hundred feet.
During the six-hour hearing Sapp was also handcuffed and shackled, and there were four sheriff’s deputies present in the courtroom. Courtroom observers were not allowed to sit in the front row of seats.
The defense called Dr. Kathleen Burch, a clinical psychologist, to the stand. Dr. Burch testified that she had interviewed Sapp four times and that she had interviewed Karen, Sapp’s wife, once over the telephone.
Dr. Burch explained that she had administered several tests, including a personality test, an IQ test, and a projective psychological test. She claimed that Sapp was “borderline psychotic.” Preoccupied with sex. Poor impulse controls. Internalized emotions. Unable to bond. Grandiose. Watchful and on guard.
Sapp had told her, “I’m gonna bring down the town. I’m gonna wreak havoc on the world.”
Sapp also told her that he had another personality named Bob. But Dr. Burch said that it was “not likely” that he had multiple personalities.
She testified that Sapp was unable to have a positive and working relationship with his lawyers: “He is intimidating and threatening because of mental disorders.”
Severe disturbances in thought process. Severe borderline. Antisocial with schizophrenic tendencies. Severe mood disorder. Grandiose. Depressed.
When the defense attorney asked her if his condition was treatable, she replied that it would be “very difficult.” She went on to say that Sapp had a lifelong belief that the world was punitive and “ungiving.” He felt that he must be intimidating to have any personal power.
On cross-examination by Schumaker, Dr. Burch admitted that personality disorders were not mental illnesses. She also admitted that Sapp was “faking” multiple personality disorder. And that he was faking on his intelligence quotient test, which showed he had an IQ of about 74. According to her, the truth was probably closer to 85 or 90—low average.
She testified that Sapp had written letters to her that were threatening and intimidating.
Schumaker elicited the information that Sapp was not only preoccupied with sex, but was also preoccupied with homicidal rage toward women.
On redirect by the defense attorney, Dr. Burch told the court that Sapp signed his letters “Maggot.”
He had an inability to cooperate. Wished to die. Get police to kill him.
On recross-examination by Schumaker, she admitted that Sapp had an “intense desire to be in control.”
Dr. Burch quoted Sapp: “I’m going to die by a bullet during my trial.”
The first witness for the prosecution was Dr. Nancy Schmidtgoessling, another psychologist. She testified that she had interviewed Sapp on January 22, 1999, for two hours and forty-five minutes. During the interview, for security reasons, he was in a “cagelike apparatus” (reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs), and his hands were handcuffed behind his back.
She told the court that Sapp was “selectively cooperative.”
He didn’t care about his life and wanted to die. Somewhat irritable. Angry. Did not seem to be scared of the circumstances he was in.
Very quick-thinking. Alert. Bad dreams. Withholding. Evasive. Boasting. Competitive. Thought he could outsmart “them.”
He declined to discuss charges. Bright man. Picked up on details. Calculating. Self-protective.
Dr. Schmidtgoessling went on to say that William Sapp was difficult to interview. In her seventeen years as a psychologist, he was one of the most difficult persons she had ever interviewed.
She said that he repeatedly referred to the death penalty and that he was very competitive toward the prosecutor. No symptoms of bipolar. Inconsistent. He said he lied.
Seeing other people scared or uncomfortable was important to him. He was capable of working with lawyers if he chose to. He needed to be in control. He was competent.
She quoted Sapp: “I know stuff they don’t know. I’m not going to tell them. Let’s see if they can figure it out.
“I’m in control of myself. I’m not mentally ill.
“I’ve been involved in so many murders—I won’t even tell you because it would make you vomit.”
Dr. Otto Kausch, a forensic psychiatrist, was the next witness for the prosecution. He also told the court that Sapp had the ability to cooperate with his lawyers if he chose to do so.
He testified that Sapp was not suicidal despite the fact that he had cut his wrists when he was seven years old.
Sapp felt he was not worthwhile. Would force police to shoot him. His lifelong dream: to sit in the electric chair. Destiny to fulfill: going to the electric chair.
Dr. Kausch: “I think he probably would like to kill other people.”
The following Monday, April 26, 1999, Judge Richard O’Neill ruled that William K. Sapp was competent to stand trial for his alleged crimes.
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Our pastor was with us throughout the trial. I mean, he actually sat in the courtroom and he could feel it . . . that this man was full of nothing but evil....
—Karlene Anderson, Belinda Anderson’s sister-in-law
It took a full week to seat the jury in the case of the State of Ohio v. William K. Sapp. On the morning of September 22, 1999, the six women and six men who were chosen to decide Sapp’s degree of guilt (his lawyers would never claim he was innocent) were taken on a jury view of eleven of the sites related to the crimes.
That afternoon, before opening statements began, common pleas court judge Richard O’Neill issued the rules for the spectators in his third-floor courtroom. There was to be total silence, absolutely no whispering. No visitor was allowed to walk directly behind the defendant. Once visitors were in the courtroom, they could leave anytime they wanted, but they could only return during the pause between witnesses or during a break. And there was to be no loitering on the third floor.
“It is the hope of the attorneys and the court that this matter can proceed to its conclusion without any interrupting events,” Judge O’Neill stated.
In his opening statement Schumaker told the jury that during Sapp’s taped statement on April 2, 1997, he told Sergeant Steve Moody and Detective Al Graeber that “all the bitches have to die.”
Schumaker then picked up individual eight-by-ten pictures of Phree Morrow, Martha Leach, and Belinda Anderson and showed them to the jury: “This is who Sapp was talking about.”
He also told the jury that even though Helen Preston had survived the attack by Sapp, he had raped her and left her for dead, with her skull depressed and her throat cut.
He listed the mistakes that Sapp had made: He struck close to home. He did not bury Belinda deep enough. He left his semen in Phree and Martha. He left his “signature” by cutting Phree’s shorts and Helen’s pants in a very distinctive manner. Helen’s cut pants alerted the investigators.
Schumaker informed the jury that they would observe Sapp, on fourteen hours of videotape, attempt to rationalize his actions during his confession to detectives.
When Dennis Lieberman, Sapp’s defense attorney, rose to make his opening statement, he acknowledged his client, Bill. This was no doubt an effort to try to humanize the monster that the jury would hear about during the trial.
Lieberman claimed that Bill had been tortured and raped by his mother 2,246 times. This, of course, was the number Detective T. C. Davis from Jacksonville, Florida, had arrived at during the interrogation of Sapp on September 26, 1996.
He said that since Bill’s birth on March 22, 1962, he had been raped, tortured, burned, and cut. He also alleged that Bill’s biological mother had poured hot candle wax on his genitals and that she forced him to have oral sex with her and she with him.
He claimed that these childhood experiences created a rage in Sapp: “It’s a rage so deep that he reacts in the way that he did. Unlike the prosecutor’s characterization of his acts.”
Lieberman claimed that when Sapp was seventeen, his stepmother bought him a bus ticket and told him, “Get out of town!”
According to the defense attorney, perhaps one of the detectives had said, “All women deserve to die.”
He went on to say that his client was not capable of premeditation. He also said that the detectives promised Sapp psychological help and asked leading questions during the interview.
William Sapp sat and listened, scowling, with his arms folded across his bright red-and-black-plaid shirt, sporting a Fu Manchu mustache and a goatee.
After the opening statements Judge O’Neill called a fifteen-minute break because Sapp had become increasingly agitated while his attorney related to the jury the horrible things his mother had allegedly done to him. As they were leaving the courtroom, Sapp told a deputy, “Doesn’t matter what I want or what I like.”
The first witness for the prosecution was Martha Leach’s mother, Jettie Willoughby Whitt (who had since married Tim Whitt), an attractive woman with long blond hair. When she was asked to identify the picture of her daughter, she covered her face with her hands and wept.
After regaining her composure, she also identified the picture of Phree Morrow. She testified that the last time she saw the girls alive was when they left to go to the bakery, between 4:30 and 5:00 on the afternoon of August 22, 1992. She said that it possibly could have been as late as 5:30.
Jettie told the jury about the search that night for Martha and Phree. She said that a police officer stopped them about midnight near the Lion’s Cage and asked them why they were there.