Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 2, 1994 TAG: 9403020210
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINCHESTER NOTE: STRIP LENGTH: Medium
The evidence remembers.
That's the message prosecutors are trying to get across to jurors who must decide whether William R. Layne beat 11-year-old Phadra Carter to death with a tire iron, chopped her up and stuffed her into a 31-inch-long grave. Layne, 41, says his memory of the weekend Phadra died is a blank.
``He says he does not remember,'' Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan told jurors Tuesday. But Hagen said the evidence would allow them to ``remember what Billy Layne does not remember.''
Tuesday was the second day of Layne's capital murder trial, which was moved from Botetourt because of public anger over the killing.
Hagan conceded that prosecutors have no witnesses who could point a finger and say they saw Layne do it. But Hagan said he and Rockbridge County Commonwealth's Attorney Eric Sisler had a wealth of circumstantial evidence that they would lay out ``like chapters in a book'' to show what happened in the early hours of Sept. 18.
They say their scientific evidence - including analyses of tire tracks, DNA tests and the murder weapon - fits together to prove that Layne killed Phadra, his stepniece.
Layne's attorneys say many things don't fit at all. ``There are gonna be a lot of loose ends in this case,'' defense attorney W.T. ``Pete'' Robey promised in his opening statement.
Prosecutors contend that Layne kidnapped Phadra from her trailer home in Rockbridge County about 2 a.m., took her to a remote dirt logging path in Botetourt County, and beat and raped her. Then, they say, he nearly cut her legs off with a shovel and grubbing hoe and bent them over her head so he could get her into the grave.
``Buried her is really too kind a word for what he did to her,'' Hagan said. ``He stuffed her in a hole.''
The murder scene off Virginia 667 is half a mile or less from the family home where Layne grew up. Down the dirt path, investigators found a bloody pair of girl's panties. Phadra's mother testified Tuesday that they belonged to her daughter.
A crime scientist says tire marks ``are consistent'' with the tires on Layne's Toyota station wagon. But defense attorney Robey counters that the tire print ``could have come from his car and about 100,000 others in the state of Virginia.''
DNA tests are another key piece of the prosecution's case. A lab report says tests of Layne's genitals and his semen-stained underwear showed traces of human cells belonging to someone else.
Lab experts say the cells were not In good enough condition to make a DNA ``fingerprint'' match, which would identify the person the cells came from with almost 100 percent accuracy. But they say a broader test showed the cells had genetic characteristics shared by just 6 percent of the population - a group that included Phadra Carter.
Robey argued, however, that ``DNA is not gonna solve the real issues in this case.'' He told jurors it was their job to decide ``guilt beyond a reasonable doubt'' - ``not the possibilities, not the maybes.''
The trial is expected to continue through this week and into next week.
by CNB