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Thread: Death Penalty Trial Tentatively Set for Scott Devon Hemphill in 2016 NC Murder of Spencer Murray and Albert Austin

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    Death Penalty Trial Tentatively Set for Scott Devon Hemphill in 2016 NC Murder of Spencer Murray and Albert Austin






    Death penalty sought for 3rd suspect in double homicide

    By Lisa M. Wall
    The Morganton News-Herald

    Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a 3rd suspect in the in the death of 2 men whose bodies were found in a burned-out car in September.

    District Attorney David Learner's office made the announcement on Tuesday in Burke County Superior Court in the double homicide cases against Scott Devon Hemphill.

    Hemphill, 33, of 2320 Farmer St., Apt. B, Charlotte, is charged with 2 counts of murder for the Sept. 17 deaths of Spencer Murray and Albert Austin, both from Forest City, whose bodies were found in the trunk of the burned vehicle.

    Nearly 2 weeks ago, prosecutors announced they also will seek the death penalty against Icey Chennell Gooden, 26, of 4217 Sundown Road, Morganton, and Brian Jerome Robinson, 33, of Connelly Springs, in the case.

    Brandy Nicole Davis, 32, of 906 Jamestown Road, Apt. D3, Morganton, has been charged with accessory after the fact to homicide in the case.

    The bodies of Murray and Austin were discovered around 8 a.m. on Sept. 18 when Burke County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to Canoe Creek Way in Morganton. When they arrived, deputies found a burned Cadillac Deville with human remains inside, according to previous reports.

    With the assistance of an investigator with the North Carolina License and Theft Bureau, investigators learned the Cadillac belonged to Austin, of 555 Poors Ford Road, Lot 5, in Forest City, and was registered to Murray, of 165 Astrid Lane, in Forest City, according to previous reports.

    http://www.morganton.com/news/death-...89e162ad9.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    March 11, 2019

    Women plead guilty in case where 2 men were burned alive in car trunk

    By Dave Faherty
    WSOC-TV

    MORGANTON, N.C. - Two women pleaded guilty Friday afternoon to a gruesome double homicide.

    Sheriff deputies found the bodies of two cousins in a car that was set on fire north of Morganton in 2016.

    The men were alive when the fire was set, according to investigators.

    Some family members stormed out of the courtroom as one of the women tried to apologize.

    It took days for deputies to identify the two men who were found in the trunk of the burned-out car as Albert Austin and his cousin Jermaine Murry

    His family brought photos of the men and pictures of their children to court for the judge to see.

    “I would like to know why. And I wish they would have thought about what they were doing before they (did) it because it’s changed our lives,” a former girlfriend of one of the victims said.

    “It’s just hard, and I’m glad they got who they got for it,” the mother of one of the victim's said.

    Icey Gooden and Brandy Davis admitted their involvement in the case in the courtroom.

    Prosecutors said Gooden, who knew the victims, lured them to Burke County where prosecutors said they were robbed and killed by her boyfriend and Davis. Some family members left as prosecutors told the judge the men were forced into the trunk at gunpoint before the car was set on fire.

    “After the vehicle was set on fire, the two victims were kicking and screaming in the trunk,” Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lippert said. “It looks like Brandy Davis looked into the rearview mirror as the flames engulfed the car.”

    Gooden pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Minutes later, Davis also pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact of murder. Gooden fought back tears and apologized to the judge.

    “I’m not that kind of person,” Gooden said. “I’m sorry.”

    There was not a sentencing hearing Friday, because the women may first have to testify against the men accused of the robbery and setting the fire

    https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/bu...-car/928773345

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    'Please turn yourself in’: Woman connected to 2016 double homicide misses sentencing hearing

    By WSOCTV.com News Staff

    BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Authorities are searching for a woman who pleaded guilty last year for her involvement in a gruesome double homicide in Burke County.

    According to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, 35-year-old Brandy “Red Bone” Davis, was scheduled to appear in superior court Wednesday to be sentenced in connection with the murders of Albert Austin and his cousin, Jermaine Murry.

    Deputies found the bodies of the two cousins in a car that was set on fire north of Morganton in 2016. The men were alive when the fire was set, according to investigators.

    Brandy Davis was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact, but never showed up to court.

    “She is purposely on the run,” Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant said Thursday.

    Davis’ family is begging for the key witness in the capital murder case to turn herself in.

    “It really hit me, and it hit me now,” said Teresa Davis, Brandy Davis’ mother. “Please turn yourself in.”

    Brandy Davis, along with Scott Hemphill, Brian Robinson and Icey Gooden were arrested for their involvement in the murders, which were reported on Sept. 18, 2016.

    Prosecutors said Gooden, who knew the victims, lured them to Burke County, where prosecutors said they were robbed and killed by her boyfriend and Brandy Davis. The men were forced into the trunk at gunpoint before the car was set on fire.

    “After the vehicle was set on fire, the two victims were kicking and screaming in the trunk,” Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lippert said during last year’s plea agreement. “It looks like Brandy Davis looked into the rearview mirror as the flames engulfed the car.”

    Gooden pleaded guilty to second-degree murder during that hearing.

    The district attorney said as part of the plea deal, the two women agreed to testify against the men who set the fire.

    “I just wish she would turn herself in, because it’s hard on us every time we have to go back and forth to court,” said Lakeisha Hill, Murray’s girlfriend said. “Some of those wounds are starting to heal and then we have to reopen them. We’re just ready to get some of this behind us.”

    Anyone with any information about where Davis is should call the Burke County Sheriff’s Office at 828-438-5500 or Morganton/Burke Crimestoppers at 828-437-3333.

    https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/de...J5H63PMI745JQ/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Related/Edited:

    Man pleads guilty to double murder

    Brian Jerome Robinson to serve between 28 and 35 years in prison

    Morganton News Herald
    Staff Reports

    A third defendant charged in the killings of two men in 2016 has pleaded guilty.

    Brian Jerome Robinson, 37, of Connelly Springs, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon during Burke County Superior Court, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.

    Casey Viser, a Superior Court judge from Mecklenburg County, sentenced Robinson to 28 to 35 years in prison after he entered the plea.

    The murders claimed the lives of Spencer Jermain Murray, 29, and Albert Alexander Austin, 35, in September 2016, the release said.

    The remains of the two victims were found in the trunk of a burned car, the release said.

    Also charged were Icey Chenell Gooden and Brandy Nicole Davis, who are serving active prison sentences for their roles in the murders.

    Gooden pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of first-degree kidnapping. She was sentenced in July 2019 to 25 to 32 years in prison. Davis pleaded guilty to two counts of accessory after the fact of murder, for which she was sentenced in January 2020 to eight to 11 years in prison.

    Gooden and Davis provided post-conviction interviews that gave evidence to be used against their co-defendants, the release said.

    Hemphill is awaiting trial. While he’s been in jail, he has been charged with multiple counts of communicating threats and a count of simple assault, according to information from the North Carolina Judicial Branch website.

    https://morganton.com/news/local/cri...5276f5b7b.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #5
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    Trial for man facing death sentence tentatively set for March

    Scott Devon Hemphill faces death penalty if found guilty of charges

    By Chrissy Murphy
    The News Herald

    The trial for a man facing the death sentence in a 2016 double murder case is tentatively set for March.

    Scott Devon Hemphill, 38, still is being held under no bond about six years after the bodies of 29-year-old Spencer Jermain Murray and 35-year-old Albert Alexander Austin were found in the trunk of a burned car in September 2016, according to information previously reported by The News Herald.

    Hemphill is facing two charges of murder and first-degree kidnapping in connection with the deaths, and he’ll be facing the death penalty when the case goes to trial.

    He’s the last defendant to face a judge in the case, with his three co-defendants pleading guilty over the course of the last several years.

    Those co-defendants include:

    • Brian Jerome Robinson, who will spend between 28 and 35 years in prison after pleading guilty last year to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
    • Icey Chenell Gooden, who was sentenced in 2019 to spend between 25 and 32 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of first-degree kidnapping.
    • Brandy Nicole Davis, who pleaded guilty to two counts of accessory after the fact of murder and was sentenced to spend eight to 11 years in prison in 2020.

    Information released by the district attorney’s office after Robinson pleaded guilty said a burned vehicle registered to Murray was found Sept. 18, 2016, with his and Austin’s remains inside it. Their identities were confirmed by dental records, and autopsies showed they died from smoke inhalation and elevated carbon monoxide saturation that led to poisoning from inhaling the products of combustion.

    Information provided at Robinson’s guilty plea also indicated he and Hemphill robbed Austin and Murray before putting them in the trunk of the vehicle, driving to a deserted area and setting it on fire. Investigators also uncovered items the suspects had tried to burn that were used in the robbery and murder, information provided to the newspaper last year indicated.

    Hemphill, who has been in custody since his arrest following the murders, this week appeared in Burke County Court where an order was put in place to hold him in Catawba County for the week so he could get in some time with his attorneys, said District Attorney Scott Reilly.

    Since Hemphill was arrested on these charges, he has racked up an indictment for felony malicious conduct by a prisoner and multiple misdemeanor charges of communicating threats for actions court documents said he’s taken against jail staff.

    Prosecutors originally intended for this case to go to trial in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic shut that down, Reilly said.

    Hemphill, who is now working with his third set of attorneys, also saw his second set of attorneys withdraw from his case that year, Reilly said. That meant his new attorneys had to start digesting the 10,000 pages of discovery documents from scratch to figure out how to best defend their client.

    “Even though it’s a 2016 case, these attorneys are relatively new to it and the case has just been pending for way longer than we would like,” Reilly said. “Those things were out of our control.”

    He said his office is aiming to see the case go to trial in March, which would see the beginning of the end of a lengthy court process.

    “The jury selection itself takes longer than most other trials would take,” Reilly said.

    Beyond jury selection, the case could see two separate phases of the trial.

    “In a capital case, if the defendant is found guilty of first-degree murder, that’s just the first phase,” Reilly said. “Then you go to the secondary phase, which is the sentencing phase, where you have a whole second trial just on the issue of whether or not the death penalty should be imposed.”

    Hemphill has previous convictions of malicious conduct by a prisoner from a 2009 offense, and two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon from 2001 offenses, according to records listed on the North Carolina Department of Public Safety website.

    https://morganton.com/news/local/cri...dbe6c5dd5.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
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    Man charged with double murder wants to fire attorneys, represent himself

    By Chrissy Murphy
    The News Herald

    A man being held in North Carolina’s highest security prison while he awaits trial for a 2016 double murder has asked the courts to fire his attorneys and allow him to represent himself in the case.

    Scott Devon Hemphill, 39, is awaiting trial on two counts of murder and two counts of first-degree kidnapping in the deaths of 29-year-old Spencer Jermain Murray and 35-year-old Albert Alexander Austin.

    Murray and Austin were found in the trunk of a burned car in September 2016 on Canoe Creek Way in Morganton, according to a previous News Herald story. Three of Hemphill’s co-defendants already have pleaded guilty in connection with the deaths, including two people who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

    Hemphill has not accepted any plea offers over the last six years, and instead has made it clear in court filings that he plans to fight the charges – if he can make it to court.

    On his third set of attorneys since he’s been charged, Hemphill filed a motion this month to have those attorneys removed from the case and asked the courts to allow him to represent himself.

    That motion was set to be heard in Burke County Superior Court on Friday, but when deputies went to pick him up Thursday at the state prison where he’s being held, he couldn’t be released to their custody, multiple officials have told The News Herald.

    John Bull, a public information officer with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, said Hemphill assaulted a correctional officer at the prison where he’s being held at around 1:40 p.m. Thursday. The correctional officer sustained minor, non-life-threatening charges in the incident, and Bull said charges against Hemphill are expected.

    This isn’t the first time Hemphill has been accused of assaulting jail and prison staff.

    He’s been indicted for felony malicious conduct by a prisoner, court records showed, and has multiple counts of misdemeanor charges of communicating threats. He was convicted in 2012 of felony malicious conduct by a prisoner in Mecklenburg County, according to NCDPS records.

    Bull couldn’t confirm the prison where Hemphill is being held, but Hemphill’s motion to represent himself said he was being held at Granville Correctional Institution, a close-custody prison in Butner.

    It also has a high-security maximum control unit, intended for the state’s most violent and assaultive offenders. An attachment to Hemphill’s filing indicated he’s being held in that unit.

    Hemphill said in the three-page, handwritten motion he would like to return to the Catawba County Jail, where he was held briefly last month so he could make contact with his attorneys.


    “Requests … To be tooking (sic) back to Catabaw (sic) County Jail to effectivly (sic) prepair (sic) for this hearing ‘all’ future hearings since they have ‘law libary’ (sic) access 7 day’s (sic) a week; with over 10 hrs (sic) a day of avilable (sic) use via tablets and telephone which Granville Institution don’t (sic) have and the court is ‘aware’ of,” Hemphill wrote in his motion.

    District Attorney Scott Reilly told The News Herald last month he hopes Hemphill’s case will go to trial in March, something that will start a lengthy court process, he said

    It’s not clear whether the motion on the table could delay proceedings. Reilly said he felt there still would be enough time for new attorneys to prepare themselves for trial by March, but said it ultimately would fall on the superior court judge who would hear the motion to decide whether proceedings should be delayed.

    Another court date for Hemphill’s motion has not been set.

    https://morganton.com/news/local/cri...f4970e43c.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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