Two suspects indicted for capital murder
A DeKalb County grand jury indicted two Boaz men for capital murder for the alleged killing of a New Harmony man.
Murder indictments were served to Billy Ray Justice, 20, and Richard Sharp Shelton, 17, at DeKalb County Jail on Thursday. Both Justice and Shelton were also indicted for first-degree arson.
DeKalb County investigators charged Justice and Shelton each with capital murder June 15 in the shooting death of 63-year-old Jerry Neal Burt. If convicted, Justice could face the death penalty. Shelton is charged as an adult but could face life in prison without parole if convicted because of a recent Supreme Court decision. That decision, according to DeKalb District Attorney Mike O'Dell, says that no juvenile may be sentenced to death regardless of whether the juvenile is charged as an adult or how charges are filed.
A trial date has not been set but will likely be in early 2011.
At the time, DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris said the two allegedly went to Burt's County Road 58 sometime on the night of June 12 with the intent to rob him of cash and prescription medications.
At some point during the robbery attempt, Harris said Burt was shot "multiple times." He said Shelton was the son of Burt's housekeeper, and it's believed that's how Shelton learned Burt had cash and prescription medication related to illness.
Harris said Justice got out of prison in August after serving time on a theft-related conviction.
According to Harris, the two borrowed a gun from someone in the Pea Ridge community under the pretense of wanting to buy the weapon. Harris said that gun is the one allegedly used to shoot Burt. He said the person who supplied the gun was not charged.
He said after the alleged killing, Justice and Shelton left the home, got gasoline and returned to set fire to the home in an apparent cover-up attempt. Harris said the two started fires in several locations inside the house, as later detected by a specially trained arson dog. The fire went out due to lack of ventilation. It did gut a portion of the house but did not destroy it completely.
Harris said Justice and Shelton left with about $100 in cash and an unspecified quantify of prescription medications.
A friend of Burt's discovered his body and evidence of a fire around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday and notified authorities.
Burt's body was sent for autopsy and the results returned from the Alabama Department of Forensic Science on June 14 that showed the exact cause of death.
Harris credited the cooperation of multiple agencies for bringing the case to a close so quickly, especially Marshall County authorities. He said they were involved from the beginning because Burt lived so close to the Marshall-DeKalb County line and authorities believed from early on that those who killed Burt might be from Marshall County.
"At one point, we had 17 different officers conducting 17 different interviews with suspects at the same time," he said.
http://times-journal.com/news/articl...cc4c002e0.html
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