THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060493
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 110 lines
Former SEAL trainee Dustin A. Turner was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile for his role in the June 1995 slaying of Georgia college student Jennifer L. Evans.
After about nine hours of deliberation that stretched over two days, the Circuit Court jury returned to court at about 3:45 p.m. with the verdict. Members of Turner's family cried openly in court, and the defendant's brother, Matthew Turner, stormed past two sheriff's deputies before barging out of the courtroom.
At the urging of Turner's attorneys, Judge John K. Moore delayed sentencing until today.
Turner, a 21-year-old native of Bloomington, Ind., faces up to life in prison. The minimum for both offenses is 20 years in prison for each.
Turner, who was in the final phase of training before becoming a member of Little Creek-based SEAL Team Four when the crime occurred, stood between his attorneys, Stephen C. Mahan and Richard G. Brydges, and hung his head when the verdict was read.
It is the second murder conviction stemming from the June 19, 1995, slaying of Evans, a 21-year-old Emory University pre-med student who was vacationing with friends in Virginia Beach when she was killed.
Billy Joe Brown, 24, a SEAL team swim buddy of Turner's, was convicted in June of first-degree murder, abduction and attempted rape. He was sentenced to 72 years and fined $63,000.
Prosecutors believe that Turner and Brown lured Evans from The Bayou, a Virginia Beach nightclub on 19th Street, with the intention of having three-way sex with her. When she resisted, the two men abducted her from the parking lot of the club and took her to another location, where she was strangled.
Turner then drove more than 30 miles to Newport News City Park, where the two men threw her body into a wooded ravine.
Although both men admitted to disposing of the body, they each blamed the other for strangling Evans. Turner led police to the body on June 27, 1995, after confessing to Virginia Beach police investigators.
Brydges promised to appeal the verdict. He said the jury arrived at the decision despite evidence that was ``overwhelming that (Turner) didn't kill this girl.''
Brydges blamed the verdict partly on extensive pre-trial publicity, which began when Evans was reported missing.
Within days of Evans' disappearance, a massive search was started and thousands of fliers featuring Evans' picture were distributed. After Evans was found dead, Virginia Beach police started a scholarship fund in her name, and several charity events were held to raise money for it.
``The overwhelming impact that this tragedy has had on this community makes it very difficult to try these cases,'' Brydges said.
Brydges built his defense around the theory that Brown killed Evans in a drunken rage in the parking lot of The Bayou. He said Turner panicked and helped dispose of the body because Brown asked for his help in covering up the murder. Turner's only other fault, Brydges said, was not reporting the murder for eight days.
Commonwealth's Attorney Robert J. Humphreys, though, said the evidence clearly pointed to murder, even if Turner was not the one who actually strangled Evans.
Humphreys said the case highlighted a part of homicide law that the public doesn't usually think about in a murder case: A person who is present at the scene of a murder and helps is just as guilty as the person who actually does the killing.
``It really comes down to, was he a participant or was he simply a spectator?'' Humphreys said.
Humphreys presented a case that implicated Turner more than Brown while the three young people were in The Bayou. It was Turner, witnesses testified, who actively pursued Evans after she walked up and introduced herself to him.
And it was Turner who talked her into staying with him at the club after the two friends she was vacationing with had left.
Also, moments before Evans disappeared, Turner told a fellow member of SEAL Team Four that he was ``going to have threesome'' with her.
Humphreys said those facts, along with Turner's behavior after Evans was killed, were enough for a guilty verdict.
``If she was alive when they drove out of that parking lot, you've got a kidnapping on your hands,'' Humphreys said. ``And if she was killed during that kidnapping, you've got a murder.
As to who actually killed Evans, Humphreys said that no one other than Turner and Brown will ever know.
``Three people in the car know exactly what happened,'' Humphreys said. ``One of them is dead, and two have been convicted. . . . We'll never know exactly what happened in that car.''
Jennifer Evans' parents, Al and Delores Evans, expressed relief that another part of their ordeal had ended.
``We feel like justice was done, and are relieved to have this behind us,'' Al Evans said.
``But there is no joy in this verdict,'' Delores Evans added. ``Nothing will bring Jennifer back, and that is the only thing that would bring me joy.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MORT FRYMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Dustin A. Turner hangs his head as the verdict is read Thursday.
Photo
MORT FRYMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Delores and Al Evans, Jennifer L. Evans' parents, said Thursday that
they were relieved that part of their ordeal had ended.
Graphic
Photos
The Virginian-Pilot
THE TURNER TRIAL
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: MURDER KIDNAPPING RAPE SEX
CRIME TRIAL VERDICT by CNB