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Thread: Carey Padgett Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in 2010 VA Rape/Murder of Cara Holley

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    Carey Padgett Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in 2010 VA Rape/Murder of Cara Holley

    Death penalty 'on the table' in teen killing

    A Roanoke man may face the death penalty after new charges were filed in connection with the death last month of a city teen.

    Carey Shane Padgett, 21, will be arraigned today on new charges of capital murder during the course of a robbery and capital murder during the course of an abduction. He also faces a new robbery charge.

    Padgett already was charged with first-degree murder and abduction stemming from the July 7 slaying of 18-year-old Cara Holley.

    Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach said Monday that the capital murder charges do not mean prosecutors necessarily will seek the death penalty, but "it puts it on the table."

    Police have said in a search warrant that Padgett confessed to taking Holley to a field in Roanoke County to talk and smoke marijuana, then beat her to death with a tire iron. Padgett led officers to where he buried Holley's body in a wooded area in Franklin County, according to a search warrant.

    Padgett, who had been a night-shift worker at Advance Auto Parts, wanted to take Holley's SUV and leave Roanoke, the warrant said.

    Holley, who like Padgett had graduated from Patrick Henry High School, was a receptionist and retail worker who planned to attend community college this fall.

    Padgett told officers that he and Holley were friends, the warrant said. A classmate of Holley's from Patrick Henry said at a memorial service that Padgett had stalked Holley.

    http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/258763

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    Judge throws out Padgett's motion to plead guilty in Cara Holley murder case

    Roanoke County prosecutors stepped in to make sure Shane Padgett would continue to face capital murder charges in the death of Cara Holley.

    Prosecutors told a judge this afternoon they would drop the original first degree murder and abduction charges against Padgett, leaving the possibility he could get the death penalty if convicted on the table.

    Prosecutors upgraded Padgett's charges to capital charges last month.

    Padgett's next court appearance is scheduled for October 22nd.

    Original post:

    10 On Your Side has learned Shane Padgett will attempt to plead guilty to the first degree murder of Cara Holley.

    Investigators believe Padgett lured Holley to a field near his Roanoke County home last July when he beat her to death in order to steal her car.

    Padgett later told investigators he buried Holley underneath some brush in a rural area of Franklin County, according to court records.

    Originally charged with first degree murder and abduction by force, the Roanoke County commonwealth's attorney's office recently upgraded the charge to capital murder.

    Capital murder means the commonwealth can seek the death penalty.

    Padgett's attorney, Neil Horn, confirmed Padgett will try to plead guilty to the original first degree murder charge at a hearing today in Roanoke County circuit court at 4 p.m.

    The commonwealth's attorney's office will likely object to the plea attempt, Horn said, leaving the decision in the hands of the judge.

    http://www2.wsls.com/news/2010/sep/10/2/shane-padgett-attempt-plead-guilty-cara-holley-mur-ar-499313/

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    Sentencing hearing under way for Shane Padgett; death penalty possible

    A sentencing hearing began today for a convicted murderer facing the death penalty. Shane Padgett plead guilty last year to raping and killing Cara Holley in Roanoke County almost four years ago. Her body was found in Franklin County. The sentencing hearing could take up to ten days, and Padgett could get the death penalty because he did not take a plea deal. Members of Holley’s family testified in court this morning that their daughter had told them about threatening messages she had recieved from Padgett. His defense will try to prove he was in an altered mental state at the time of the murder.

    http://wfirnews.com/local-news/sente...nalty-possible
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    Padgett capital murder charges advance to grand jury

    Carey Shane Padgett, charged with capital murder in the July slaying of Cara Marie Holley, was back in Roanoke County court this morning.

    Padgett waived a preliminary hearing and a judge certified two capital murder counts and a robbery charge to a grand jury that is scheduled to meet next month.

    Padgett gave no testimony today.

    A Roanoke County judge had previously blocked Padgett's attempt to plead guilty to first-degree murder in the July 7 slaying of Holley.

    Instead, Judge James Swanson allowed the state to drop that charge, leaving in place the two upgraded capital murder counts Padgett now faces.

    Padgett, 21, was initially charged with first-degree murder, but prosecutors amended them to capital murder counts of abduction and robbery. Padgett could now face the death penalty.

    Police have said in a search warrant that Padgett confessed to taking Holley, 18, to a field in Roanoke County to talk and smoke marijuana, then beat her to death with a tire iron. Padgett led officers to where he buried Holley's body in a wooded area in Franklin County, according to a search warrant.

    Padgett, who had been a night-shift worker at Advance Auto Parts, wanted to take Holley's SUV and leave Roanoke, the warrant said.

    Holley, who, like Padgett, had graduated from Roanoke's Patrick Henry High School, was a receptionist and retail worker who planned to attend community college this fall.

    Padgett told officers that he and Holley were friends, the warrant said. A classmate of Holley's from Patrick Henry said at a memorial service that Padgett had stalked Holley.

    http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/274485

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    Sentencing begins in Roanoke County capital murder case



    The man responsible for the brutal 2010 killing of Cara Marie Holley appeared Monday in Roanoke County Circuit Court, kicking off a multiday sentencing hearing with his life now at stake.

    In an effort to convince Judge James Swanson that Carey Shane Padgett should be sentenced to life in prison instead of death, defense attorney Jay Finch said he’d prepared a case highlighting Padgett’s troubled childhood.

    “It’s a very sad day to be here,” Finch said. “A young life has been taken, and another young life may be lost.

    “A boy who described himself as ‘the worst little boy in the world,’ ” he added, recalling one of Padgett’s many childhood sessions with counselors.

    But Finch will have to contend with Roanoke County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Leach, who said he had evidence to show Padgett remains violent and a future danger to those around him.

    “He followed his plan,” Leach said of the slaying. “This was not a random act where he just lost it in some rage.”

    Padgett pleaded guilty in October to two counts of capital murder and to abduction and robbery in the July 7, 2010, case. He pleaded no contest to three additional counts of capital murder and charges of abduction with the intent to defile, forcible sodomy and rape.

    Leach said that over the next several days he would call at least one forensic expert and others to the stand. On Monday, though, Holley’s relatives were the ones asked to step into the spotlight.

    The first to take the stand was Cody Hoosier, Holley’s brother and one of the last people to see her alive. In a mournful yet resolute tone, Hoosier described the escalation of concern that spread throughout Holley’s family and friends in the hours after her disappearance.

    She was scheduled to meet him for dinner at his apartment.

    “We were just so close that if plans fell through, it wasn’t an issue,” Hoosier explained.

    But when he received a text message from her phone number (actually composed and sent by Padgett), he started to worry. The message said her car had trouble, that she was staying with a friend.

    “She would have called her dad,” Hoosier said.

    When asked about their initial impressions of Padgett when they first met him, Holley’s family answered almost uniformly.

    Quiet. Introverted. He didn’t talk much.

    There were at least two occasions when her parents recalled Padgett sending strange text messages to their daughter, though she waved off their worries, dismissing the messages as lacking any real threat.

    Mike Holley said he learned of one message while on a drive with his daughter.

    “He told me he was going to kill me one day,” Cara Holley had said, according to Mike Holley.

    “Cara, something is wrong with that,” he responded. “People don’t say things like that.”

    “He says stuff,” she replied.

    Mike Holley’s voice began to waver during his time on the stand. He was supposed to meet his daughter at Virginia Western Community College for orientation the week she was murdered. She had been excited to start classes there, relatives said.

    It was when she missed orientation that Cara Holley’s mother, Lisa Cowling, asked that the police get involved.

    “I knew something was desperately wrong,” Cowling said.

    She had met Padgett in passing, found him quiet and strange. It wasn’t until she discussed a second text message Padgett sent her daughter that she got odd vibes about him. In the message, arranged as a seeming expression of affection, Padgett said his face would be the last face that she would see alive, because he loved her so much.

    Cowling said she warned her daughter, who again brushed concern aside.

    “She wasn’t scared of him,” she said.

    Finch said he expects to share parts of Padgett’s past starting on Wednesday, which may include calling counselors from his client’s past to the stand to testify about his mental well-being through the years. At the outset of the sentencing hearing, Finch explained Padgett’s father had killed himself with a gunshot to the head, just one of many moments in his life that have contributed to instability, the attorney said.

    http://www.roanoke.com/news/sentenci...7a43b2370.html
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    Trial date set for man accused of killing a Roanoke teen

    A trial date has been set for the man accused of killing a Roanoke teen. Shane Padgett is charged with capital murder in the death of Cara Holley.

    Police say he choked and then beat the 18-year-old to death last July. They say he killed her for her car.

    Padgett wavied his right to a speedy trial on Wednesday. His case will be heard January 23. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

    http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-tria...,1424090.story

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    Padgett’s mother testifies about family life

    The prosecution rested its case in the sentencing phase of the Carey Shane Padgett capital murder case Wednesday, opening the floor to his attorney, who has sought to highlight the man’s troubled past.

    Defense attorney Jay Finch has built a defense that he hopes will convince Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge James Swanson that Padgett should not receive the death penalty for the brutal July 2010 death of Cara Marie Holley. To kick off his argument, Finch called Padgett’s mother to the stand.

    Short, soft-spoken and wrapped in a heavy sweater, Bonnie Haines pushed at a box of tissues as she gave her testimony. She sat on the stand for longer than an hour and a half, walking the courtroom through her son’s life and the obstacles her family had faced.

    For the majority of Padgett’s life, Haines operated as a single mom working multiple jobs. His father committed suicide before Padgett entered middle school, heaping the responsibilities of child rearing on Haines and anyone close to her who was willing to help.

    As Padgett grew older, developmental problems that started with verbal struggles became more pronounced to the people around him, she said.

    “It started with his school,” Haines said. “They were seeing some issues. His issues were a little beyond the school counselor.”

    Outbursts. Hearing voices. Seeing the ghost of his father sitting on the living room couch.

    Haines testified that twice she had her son committed to LewisGale Behavioral Center, describing it as a “mental institution.”

    Specific diagnoses came and went for Padgett. The one that stuck through the years was his depression, Haines said. And once he entered Patrick Henry High School, he started acting in strange ways, ways that got negative attention from his classmates, some of whom took the stand Wednesday.

    Weird. Quiet. Infamous. Those were the descriptors former classmates used when describing Padgett in court — three of whom were women he’d offered $1,000 to spend time with him just days prior to Holley’s death. In the wake of the murder, all three said they felt it could have been them who perished.

    Aaron Parker, 24, said he remembered Padgett coming to school occasionally in costumes. Sometimes, he would even walk through the halls screaming racial slurs around black students or derogatory terms at female students.

    When asked how she reacted when she learned her son was the suspect in a murder case, Haines exhaled.

    “I was shocked when they told me,” she said. “I never ever thought he would hurt anyone. He absorbed it all in, never out. He never hit anyone.”

    The defense is expected to call more of Padgett’s relatives and other witnesses to the stand today and Friday.


    http://www.roanoke.com/news/crime/ro...a4bcf6878.html
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    Depressed Padgett not helping defend murder charge, lawyers say

    Roanoke County Circuit Court may rule today whether Carey Shane Padgett is mentally competent to stand trial in the murder of Patrick Henry High School graduate Cara Marie Holley.

    Defense attorney Neil Horn said at a court hearing today that Padgett, 23, is incompetent to stand trial on capital murder charges because hasn't communicated with his attorneys about his case. A doctor has found that Padgett needs medical treatment before he can participate in his defense, Horn said.

    Judge James Swanson may rule on Padgett's mental competency after testimony later today.

    Padgett is scheduled for trial in January. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.

    Padgett has suffered from depression, Horn said. He was on suicide watch over the weekend, according to his attorneys.

    He has been jailed since the days following the killing of Holley, 18, on July 7, 2010.

    Padgett confessed that he beat Holley to death with a tire iron in a Roanoke County field so he could take her new Kia Sorento and leave Roanoke, police have said. He later led police to her buried body in Franklin County, authorities said.

    http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/300797

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    Shane Padgett Sentencing Continues

    The sentencing phase of a capital murder case in Roanoke County has entered its fourth day.

    Shane Padgett was found guilty last year in the death of former Patrick Henry High School classmate Cara Holley back in 2010.

    Lawyers for Padgett are now calling witnesses as they work to persuade the judge that Padgett should receive life in prison versus the death penalty.

    Thursday's testimony included one witness after another who know Padgett - some from many years ago; others family members with regular contact.

    The defense worked to show Padgett had emotional difficulties because of his father's suicide and lack of attention from his mother.

    They also tried to show Padgett as a non-violent person.

    Most clearly, though, was that Padgett had some interesting behavioral issues that gave off the impression of a significant need for attention.

    Something one of Padgett's ninth grade teachers, Lynn Yates, testified to.

    "(He)Exhibited behaviors that were disruptive to the classroom. He wasn't interested in school very much so I had a difficult time relating to him," said Yates.

    Earlier testimony shows Padgett's own words to friends were along the lines that one day he would be famous... infamous is what he got.

    As they have been through this entire ordeal the surviving family of Cara Holley was in court listening to every word.

    This sentencing is set to wrap up a week from tomorrow.

    http://www.wset.com/story/25032129/s...cing-continues
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    Suspect in Patrick Henry graduate's slaying ruled unfit for trial in Roanoke County

    Carey Shane Padgett's depression has made him unfit to stand trial in January on charges of capital murder in the killing of Patrick Henry High School graduate Cara Marie Holley, a Roanoke County judge ruled Monday.

    Padgett has been too depressed to communicate with his attorneys or mother since about August, 13 months after he admitted beating to death 18-year-old Holley with a tire iron so he could use her vehicle to leave Roanoke.

    Because he can't communicate, Padgett's attorneys can't prepare his case for a trial yet, psychologist Rebecca Loehrer said. A psychiatric hospital, likely Central State Hospital in Petersburg, will treat Padgett until he's able to work with attorneys, Circuit Court Judge James Swanson ruled.

    "My main concern is his motivation," Loehrer told the judge. "He indicated to me he didn't wish to live anymore."

    In September, Loehrer interviewed Padgett, his mother and defense attorney Neil Horn and reviewed his medical and school records, she said.

    Padgett has major depression and bipolar disorder and has been in treatment since childhood, his attorneys said.

    The Western Virginia Regional Jail has held him in segregation from other prisoners because of the capital murder charges. The jail placed him on suicide watch several times including this past weekend, Horn said.

    Padgett stopped communicating with his attorneys and with his mother about the same time in August.

    The inmate flatly replies to questions with little more than head nods, Horn said. "He's not capable of putting his thoughts to words," Horn added.

    Still, Padgett understands the court proceedings against him, the inmate and the psychologist said Monday.

    A three-week capital murder trial had been set for late January but will be rescheduled. If tried and convicted, Padgett faces either life in prison or the death penalty.

    He has been jailed since the days following the killing of Holley, 18, on July 7, 2010.

    The two Patrick Henry High School graduates traveled to a field in Roanoke County to talk and smoke marijuana before he attacked her with his hands and the tire iron, Padgett told police. He then bound her body and took it to a wooded area in Franklin County, where he later led police. A Rocky Mount officer caught Padgett driving Holley's 2011 Kia Sorento.

    Among other charges, Padgett faces multiple counts of capital murder, including murder involving abduction, robbery, sodomy and rape.

    On Monday, Padgett, in a yellow jail jumpsuit, stared forward throughout the proceedings. He responded "yes" when the judge asked if he understood, and "no" when asked if he had further questions.

    More than a dozen of Holley's family and friends filled two rows behind the prosecution. They passed boxes of tissues to one another, held and wore items printed with her picture and sobbed during Swanson's ruling.

    Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach counseled the family afterward that the ruling isn't a loss for the prosecution.

    Leach said later he had expected Padgett would be examined and treated before a trial begins.

    "We're going to do this right," Leach said, because the Virginia Supreme Court would review the proceedings if Padgett is convicted and sentenced to death.

    "You don't rush with this kind of thing. You dot the I's and cross the T's," Leach added.

    The commonwealth's attorney hopes Padgett will be well enough to face a jury as early as next summer.

    "It's not like he's going off to the hospital and will never come back for a trial," Leach said.

    http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/300816

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