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Thread: Michael David Belcher - Alabama Death Row

  1. #1
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    Michael David Belcher - Alabama Death Row




    Trial begins for final defendant in Samantha Payne torture death


    The death penalty trial of the final defendant accused in the kidnapping and torture death of Samantha Payne has begun.

    Michael Belcher is the last of five people suspected of killing the Maplesville woman and leaving her body tied to a tree in the Talladega National Forest.

    Belcher, 34, offered to plead guilty for a sentence of life in prison before jury selection began last week, but prosecutors refused and went forward with the trial Friday.

    He’s charged with capital murder and kidnapping.

    The squirrel hunter who found Payne’s’ body, Payne’s mother Susi and Belcher’s ex-girlfriend Chylli Bruce testified before court broke for lunch.

    Police say Payne endured beatings for several hours before she was tied to a tree, cut in the throat and killed in rural Tuscaloosa County. Squirrel hunters found her body tied to the tree off South Sandy Road in the Talladega National Forest on Nov. 9, 2015. Investigators believe her body had been there for at least a week. Her skull was found a few feet away on the ground.

    Steven George, Michael Belcher and his girlfriend Chylli Bruce were the first three suspects charged with capital murder in the days after the discovery of Payne’s body. Alyssa Watson and Marcus George were initially charged with kidnapping, but a grand jury heard the evidence and indicted them both on murder charges.

    After turning down settlement offers in exchange for truthful testimony, Watson and Marcus George went before a jury during a joint trial in November. They were found guilty of kidnapping and murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Both maintain their innocence and have appealed the convictions, asking for new trials.

    Steven George pleaded guilty days before their trial, agreeing to a sentence of life in prison in exchange for his testimony. Chylli Bruce pleaded guilty in the weeks following the arrest, and has spent time in drug rehab as part of her probation requirements.

    Investigators believe the suspects were using methamphetamine when Steven George, Marcus George and Watson took Payne’s keys and left with her car. The burned car was later found in Bibb County.

    Bruce told police that Payne became angry when she realized her car was missing. Belcher then threw Payne to the floor and began to kick and punch her, police and prosecutors believe.

    Authorities believe that Steven George, Belcher and Bruce went to Belcher’s home, where they continued to assault Payne. They say that Payne was then transported to Watson’s family property on Haysop Church Road, where they found a cut coaxial cable. Payne’s hands and feet were bound with a coaxial cable, a shoestring and a belt.

    Bruce testified in the November trial that she and Watson pulled Payne’s fingernails off with a knife while she was hogtied and saying she loved them.

    https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/...-torture-death
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  2. #2
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    Man Convicted in 2015 Beating Death of Alabama Woman

    A man has been convicted in the 2015 beating death of an Alabama woman and a jury will now decide whether he should die for the crime.

    TUSCALOOSA, ALA. (AP) — A man has been convicted in the 2015 beating death of an Alabama woman and a jury will now decide whether he should die for the crime.

    The Tuscaloosa News reported a jury deliberated less than two hours Thursday before returning the guilty verdict against Michael Belcher.

    The same jury meets Friday to consider whether Belcher should die for killing 29-year-old Samantha Payne of Maplesville. The jury could recommend life in prison without parole.

    Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Brad Almond will consider the jury's recommendation and make the final decision.

    Prosecutors say Payne had been beaten by a group of friends who were using drugs. Her body was found in the Talladega National Forest.

    District Attorney Hays Webb said Belcher was the leader of the group in the attack.

    https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...-alabama-woman

  3. #3
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    Centreville man receives death penalty recommendation for 2015 murder in Tuscaloosa

    By Jordan Highsmith
    CBS42.com

    TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) -- A Tuscaloosa County jury reached a unanimous decision recommending the death penalty for a man convicted of capital murder of a 29-year-old woman in 2015.

    Michael Belcher was convicted in December of 2015 for the death of Samantha Payne. Her body was found one week after her death by hunters who discovered her in the forest near South Sandy Road.

    The warrant for Michael Belcher states that Payne may have been stabbed to death, court documents say. Investigators know that Payne and Belcher knew each other and were together a few days prior to her murder.

    In December of 2015, five people were charged in connection to the murder of Payne. Investigators believed that Payne, Belcher, and others were together in Bibb County on the night of November 1, 2015. They also said they believed Payne was assaulted by Belcher, on or around Nov. 2, 2015, and then driven to the area where her remains were discovered by the hunters.

    https://www.cbs42.com/news/crime/cen...osa/1858579248
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    Belcher sentenced to death in Payne murder case

    By J.R. Tidwell
    The Clanton Advertiser

    Michael David Belcher, 34, was sentenced to death by lethal injection by a judge in Tuscaloosa County for his role in the beating, torture and murder of 29-year-old Samantha Payne of Maplesville in 2015.

    Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Brad Almond handed down the verdict on April 3, one that had been recommended by the jury hearing the case.

    “The suffering of Samantha Payne was prolonged,” Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb told The Tuscaloosa News. “What she suffered through was an inhuman sort of abuse. It’s unconscionable. Her suffering was unparalleled than what we typically come across.”

    Payne was beaten and tortured by a group of friends who were under the influence of methamphetamine in November 2015.

    She was taken to a remote area of the Talladega National Forest where she was tied to a tree before having her throat cut.

    It is believed that Belcher was the ringleader in the beating and the one who cut Payne’s throat. Hunters later discovered Payne’s body.

    Belcher was found guilty of capital murder on March 13.

    There were five total defendants in the case who were all tried by Almond.

    Stephen George and Chylli Bruce were set to be sentenced during the afternoon of April 3. According to The Tuscaloosa News, both George and Bruce testified against Belcher. George agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors to serve life in prison with no possibility of parole while Bruce agreed to a 20-year sentence, with five of those years to be served in prison.

    Marcus George and Alyssa Watson were found guilty of murder in November 2018. Both were sentenced to 30 years in prison and have filed appeals.

    https://www.clantonadvertiser.com/20...e-murder-case/

  5. #5
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Belcher entered Alabama's death row on 4/3/19.

    http://www.doc.state.al.us/DeathRow
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    Death sentence and conviction affirmed by the ACCA.

    https://law.justia.com/cases/alabama...r-18-0740.html
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    Writ for petition of certiorari to the ACCA denied by the Alabama Supreme Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/al...1cv00362/75554
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  8. #8
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    Distributed for conference January 7, 2022.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/21-6065.html
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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    Petition for certiorari denied.

    Lower Ct: Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
    Case Numbers: (CR-18-0740)
    Decision Date: December 16, 2020
    Rehearing Denied: February 26, 2021
    Discretionary Court Decision Date: May 21, 2021

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/21-6065.html

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