Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 25, 1994 TAG: 9401250097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That much was agreed to Monday as Turner's murder trial began in Roanoke Circuit Court.
But it will take most of the week for a jury to decide whether Turner acted as a vengeful homeowner or a mentally disturbed man driven to the brink of insanity.
Turner, 40, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of William Dale Hartman of Roanoke.
His defense is expected to mix elements of self-defense and temporary insanity - similar to the "irresistible impulse" theory that lawyers for Lorena Bobbitt said led her to sever the penis of her husband after years of alleged rape and abuse.
In fact, potential jurors were asked during jury selection if they could put aside what they heard or thought about Lorena Bobbitt - who was acquitted last week - in deciding Turner's case.
Instead of the sexual abuse raised in the Bobbitt case, Turner's defense is expected to focus on the burglary of his Piedmont Street home and alleged death threats by Hartman as the two men feuded.
Hartman, defense attorney Jonathan Apgar said, "drove Eddie over the edge into a psychotic state in which Eddie could no longer control himself."
Psychiatrists are expected to testify that Turner suffers from a manic-depressive disorder. There likely will be a dispute, however, as to whether Turner's mental state made him unable to control his actions at the time of the killing, as Apgar said.
"This isn't just something that was cooked up after all this happened," Apgar said. "The evidence will show that Mr. Turner has had psychiatric problems for years."
Apgar said Turner became so obsessed with the burglary that he barricaded his home and covered the windows. Even then, he suspected Hartman had been in the home and claimed to be able to smell him.
Turner's mental disease also caused hallucinations in which he saw snakes in his home and heard voices that didn't exist, Apgar said.
Apgar said Hartman threatened Turner at gunpoint, saying, "If you don't drop the [burglary] charges, I'm going to kill you."
Turner, who wore a tweed sport coat and pink tie Monday, sometimes smiled and nodded slightly. When Judge Clifford Weckstein introduced him to potential jurors, Turner rose to his feet with a grin, spread his arms and asked: "How are y'all doing?"
In her opening arguments to the jury, Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony described what she said was a premeditated murder.
Hartman, 30, was shot five times with a 9 mm handgun the night of April 3, 1992, after a 70-mph car chase ended in the parking lot of Jamestown Plaza on Riverland Road Southeast.
Anthony told the jury that an eyewitness will testify that, seconds after the two cars sped into the parking lot, he saw shots fired from Turner's car into the one Hartman was driving.
Hartman's car then crashed into a van, while Turner sped away, Anthony said. Hartman was pronounced dead a short time later.
Minutes later, Turner went to the Police Department and told authorities he had been involved in a shooting, Anthony said.
In a statement, he admitted shooting at Hartman at least seven times from the window of his car during a wild chase through Southeast Roanoke. Turner, believing that Hartman had a gun, told police that he was the one being pursued.
Turner said the chase started about a half-mile away as he went to pick up a pizza and spotted Hartman near Turner's home.
Two days before the shooting, Turner threatened to kill Hartman, according to the first witness to testify.
Officer R.F. Metheny of the Roanoke Police Department testified that he went to a construction site at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where Turner was working, to serve a warrant April 1. The warrant claimed that Turner had assaulted Hartman several days earlier.
Turner said he had "whipped" Hartman because Hartman had broken into his apartment and stolen several guns, Metheny testified.
"He said he would kill the [expletive] and save everybody the time and trouble," Metheny testified. Turner said he was going to jail anyway, Metheny testified, "so killing Mr. Hartman wouldn't make any difference."
Despite his threats, Turner was not taken into custody at the time on the assault charge. "It happens quite frequently," Metheny said of such threats.
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