05/02/2007
Killer in 2004 Alabama Gay Man's Murder Pleads Guilty
One of three defendants in the 2004 murder case of Scotty Joe Weaver in Alabama in 2004 has made a surprise guilty plea that will spare him the death penalty one week before his trial is set to begin.
The defendant Christopher Gaines and two others, Robert Holly Lofton Porter, 20, and Nichole Bryars Kelsay, 20, robbed Weaver of between $65 and $80 before beating, strangling, and stabbing him to death and then setting his body on fire. His charred, decomposed body was discovered by the side of a rural road. Prosecutors say they murder was committed, in part, because Weaver was gay.
According to the Tuscaloosa News, "As required by Alabama’s capital murder law, jurors will still hear testimony in an abbreviated trial that is scheduled to begin Monday. The judge can sentence Gaines to death or life in prison without parole, but Gaines is expected to get life as a result of his plea. Gaines will not testify at the trial, but jurors will watch a video recording of his confession, defense attorney J. Clark Stankoski said. Lawyers have not said if Gaines will become a witness against his two co-defendants, who are scheduled to be tried separately later this year."
WKRG in Mobile described a somber scene in court: "Flanked by his defense attorneys, Gaines stood before Judge Lang Floyd and assured the judge this is his decision and something he wants to do. Attorney Greg Hughes says there is a reason for the decision, 'He wants to take responsibility for what he did and put all this behind him as far as he can.' That’s little comfort to Weaver’s family. His Mother and brother in court, both wiping tears away after the guilty plea. 'It's sad for them they were part of our discussions last week so they were also prepared for the plea. They're just sad about their son,' says Newcomb."
Gaines' trial is set to begin on Monday. The two other defendants in September.
Posted 9:00 AM EST by Andy Towle in Alabama, Crime, News | Permalink
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Wow
At first glimpse i thought Gaines was the gay one
Posted by: stephen | May 2, 2007 9:32:31 AM
Yes interesting huh? It's clear this kid has some serious issues with his masculinity.
Posted by: mark m | May 2, 2007 10:22:45 AM
"They're just sad about their son"
Um, no shit. Thanks for that penetrating insight.
I'm glad he pled guilty, which allows us all to be spared the squalid display of excuses and quasi-justifications that are usually found in such trials. And frankly, I'd much rather have him rot in jail than be provided a much more gentle death than the one he meted out to Mr. Weaver.
Sad story all around.
Posted by: Brian | May 2, 2007 10:35:21 AM
Amazing how scared someone becomes when faced with THEIR imminent death. Serious Issues, indeed/
Posted by: woodroad34 | May 2, 2007 12:02:29 PM
I think they should be killed the same way they killed the gay teen.
No sympathy, no leniency, no mercy!
Posted by: Bobby | May 2, 2007 1:19:39 PM
Actually, for the record, the full list of what happened to Weaver includes being beaten, strangled, repeatedly stabbed, cut, mutilated, partially decapitated, and then set on fire. Experts call such incidents “overkill” which typically reflects a frenzied emotional element to the crime beyond any associated act such as robbery. The at least 18 blows with a large gun that crushed Matthew Shepard’s head like a pumpkin is a textbook example. In this case, Porter was quoted as having said that he wanted to Weaver because he was gay and bragged of assaulting other gays. Involving fire seems to be something that Alabama’s homohating psychotics particularly like. [ooops, did I just “name call”?] In 1999, Billy Jack Gaither was beaten to death with an ax handle and his body burned atop kerosene-soaked tires. Though his murderers got life without parole, the state refused to report it as a hate crime to the FBI which keeps records on same. But, hey, it’s not like such people don’t have more explicit and official public support. Two years before Weaver’s murder, according to SAAD, then-Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore denied a lesbian mother custody of her three teenage children while stating that being gay is "abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature," a "lifestyle" that "should never be tolerated," "an intolerable evil," "an inherent evil," and "an act so heinous that it defies one's ability to describe it," and suggested the state might have to use "the power of the sword" to get rid of us. Moore is a popular celebrity on the growing Christians As Victims Road Show after he was removed from office for refusing to remove a 2.6 ton Ten Commandments sculpture from the state supreme court building. Demonizing gays apparently isn’t an “ethics issue” in Alabama. Nor is it in the US Senate where Alabama Repug Sen. Jeff Sessions has railed against gays as “threats to the family.” About two weeks after Weaver's body was found, a gay man in Montgomery was shot in the head and killed for allegedly making a pass a his killer and "lunging" after him. Of course, Fred Phelps & his incest-spawned tribe picketed Weaver's funeral “celebrating” his, Gaither's, and Shepard's murders.
And that sound you hear? It’s 20/20’s Esleazabeth Vargas desperately dialing Gaine’s attorney to do another “Homohate Had Nothing To Do With It” special.
Posted by: Leland | May 2, 2007 1:49:28 PM
Gaines pleas guilty to his crime while the victim did not even have any chance to plead for his life. I hope the girlfriend gets something for being co conspirator. The law should pursue anyone who has anything to do with the crime so as not to pardon those who did not carry it out but incited it.
Posted by: chris | May 11, 2007 11:06:17 AM