THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605190042 SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 152 lines
Who killed Jennifer L. Evans, the pre-med honors student from Atlanta who died last June while vacationing in Virginia Beach?
Was it Billy Joe Brown Jr., the 6-foot-2, 210-pound native of Ohio who has a history of violence against women and who casually asked police for a ``beer and a babe'' after his arrest?
Was it 21-year-old Dustin A. ``Dusty'' Turner, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Bloomington, Ind., man who, according to witnesses, first caught Evans' eye at The Bayou nightclub in the Radisson Hotel six blocks from the beachfront last June?
Or were both men, SEAL Team Four trainees, one of the Navy's most elite commando units, responsible?
One version of how Evans died will be tested in court this week when Brown, 23, is tried on charges of murder, attempted rape, abduction and penetration with an animate object. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday.
There is a fourth possibility: Juries could acquit both men. Turner's trial is scheduled for June 25. On the other hand, both men, if convicted, could receive life sentences.
Evans' family is convinced Turner and Brown were equally responsible for her death.
``Both were involved,'' said Jennifer's father, Al Evans, following a hearing on May 10 where Brown's lawyer, Norfolk attorney Andrew Sacks, tried unsuccessfully to have a statement that Brown made to police thrown out as evidence.
Almost a year after Evans was killed, many crucial questions about how she died remain unanswered. The questions have lingered in a city where tourism and the military are two of the biggest industries.
Turner and Brown met Evans last June 19 at The Bayou on 19th Street, a nightspot that, Brown told police, he and Turner frequented because it attracted young, single women.
Evans, a student at Atlanta's Emory University, had gone to The Bayou with two friends from a Sandbridge beach house where she was staying while on vacation. Witnesses told police that Evans seemed to like Turner. She indicated to her friends that she wanted to spend some more time with him, and agreed to meet her girlfriends again at 2 a.m.
Evans never showed up.
Her disappearance launched an area-wide search that ended when her body was found covered with leaves near a biking trail in a Newport News park on June 27.
Initially, neither Brown nor Turner owned up to having anything to do with Evans' death. On June 21, they admitted to police in Virginia Beach to being at the bar on the 19th, and Turner admitted talking with Evans. Both Brown and Turner said they left The Bayou together, without Evans.
But eventually their stories fell apart, and separate versions of what happened to Evans began to emerge. Each man gave statements to police on June 27. Turner gave one, Brown two.
Each contradicted the other. Each implicated both men in different ways.
All three versions agree only in the basics: Evans died from being strangled in Turner's Chevrolet Geo in Virginia Beach early on the morning of June 19, 1995; and Turner and Brown disposed of the body in a Newport News park.
Each accused the other of actually killing Evans.
The statements were made at FBI headquarters in Richmond, near Fort A.P. Hill, where Brown and Turner were finishing up tactical training, one of the final phases of SEAL instruction.
While in Richmond, Turner and Brown agreed to submit to separate polygraph examinations.
At first, both repeated their stories that they were not involved. But once the questions began to focus on what happened to Evans on the 19th, both Turner and Brown began to crack.
As Turner's denial began to come apart, he gradually told police a version of how Evans died.
``It wasn't like he broke down and gave me the story,'' Virginia Beach Detective J.T. Orr testified at a hearing this month. ``It came out in dribs and drabs.''
Turner admitted to leaving the bar with Evans and going with her to his car, which was in The Bayou parking lot.
Turner said Brown came to the car, asked for a ride home, and got into the back seat.
Suddenly, Turner said, Brown reached into the front seat, grabbed Evans around the neck and choked her.
``It happened so fast,'' Turner told police. ``I don't know why the hell he killed her.''
Turner then gave police directions to Evans' body.
Brown maintained his innocence longer. During the polygraph interview, Brown impressed police examiners with his cool, calm manner.
``He was extremely casual and matter of fact,'' said Lt. Sandra Baum, the polygraph expert who questioned Brown. ``He seemed unconcerned.''
But that changed once police notified Brown that Turner had cracked.
``It was one of the few times I saw any kind of emotional response from Billy,'' Detective Al Byrum of the Virginia Beach Police Department testified at the hearing. ``He slumped down in his seat and his eyes began to get red.''
That's when Brown told his first version of how Evans died.
Brown said that Turner and Evans left the club at about 1:15 a.m. on June 19, and Brown left about 15 minutes later. Brown walked up to Turner's car and saw that Evans had passed out in the front seat. Brown said that's when Turner and Brown decided to have sex with her. Brown admitted that the two men had engaged in three-way sex with other women.
After driving to the North End of Virginia Beach, Brown said, Turner pulled over and the two men arranged the car seats so they were flat and formed a platform. With Evans between the two men and their feet pointed toward the front of the car, Turner and Brown began undressing Evans.
But when Evans woke up and began screaming, Brown said, Turner grabbed her neck and Brown grabbed her arms and lay across her legs, Brown said.
Although Evans quieted down, she began spitting up blood. When she made noises, Brown said that Turner choked her again and Brown again lay across her legs.
Brown told police he went to sleep as Turner drove to Newport News, where they placed Evans' body in the woods and covered it with leaves.
Brown signed the statement and also provided police with a diagram of the car, indicating where Turner, Brown and Evans had lain.
``He stated that he had not choked Jennifer,'' Byrum said. ``He said Dusty was the one who choked her.''
Police then placed Brown under arrest. But about 30 minutes later Brown called for police again, offering ``the real version.''
This time Brown said Evans and Turner left The Bayou together, but when Brown went into the parking lot, Turner jumped out of the car and called to Brown.
`` `Hurry dude, get in the car,' '' Brown remembered Turner saying.
When Brown got to the car, he said that Turner told him, `` `I think I f---- killed her.' ''
Brown said Turner told him that he and Evans had started having sex in the parking lot, but that Evans began to resist when Turner tore a button from her clothing. Turner placed his arm against her neck and pushed hard, Brown said. Blood began coming from Evans' nose and her mouth began foaming.
Turner began driving away from the bar and suggested that they take her to the ocean, rape her and and throw her body into the water.
Brown also admitted to police that he began probing Evans' body with his finger and considered having sex with her, even though he knew she was dead.
Brown said he lied to police in the first version ``to try to help my friend Dusty out.''
After his arrest, Brown gave the second version of Evans' death and has since said that it is this one that he claims is the truth. He also read his second statement as police videotaped him in Virginia Beach after he was arrested. And he also added this postscript:
``Dusty has been my swim buddy all through (training), and I would do anything to protect him,'' Brown said on the video. ``I love him like a brother.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Billy Joe Brown Jr., 23, left, says his fellow SEAL trainee and swim
buddy, Dustin A. ``Dusty'' Turner, 21, killed Jennifer L. Evans
outside a Beach nightclub last June. Turner says Brown did it.
Jennifer L. Evans, a pre-med student, was found dead in a Newport
News park.
KEYWORDS: TRIAL MURDER by CNB