Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Patricia Wells Jennings - North Carolina

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    Patricia Wells Jennings - North Carolina




    Facts of the Crime:

    The State presented evidence that Jennings was beaten and tortured to death in a hotel room in Wilson, North Carolina on 19 September 1989. Defendant's evidence suggested that Jennings suffered from dementia and died from accidental or self-inflicted wounds. Defendant was a nurse working at Westwood Manor Nursing Home in Wilson when she first met Jennings in June 1983. Jennings, a retired businessman living in Wilson, was an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous and was called to the nursing home for a consultation about an alcoholic patient. Four years later, in February 1987, defendant and Jennings were married. She was forty-four years old; he was seventy-seven. Shortly after their marriage in September 1987, defendant and Jennings visited George Henry, a financial consultant at Merrill Lynch and an acquaintance of Jennings for more than twenty years. The purpose, Henry testified, was to transfer half of Jennings' assets, which then totaled about 150,000, to defendant. An account was opened for defendant, and half of Jennings' assets were transferred to the new account.

    The State presented several witnesses who testified that Jennings told them of ongoing abuse by defendant and that he was afraid defendant would kill him or have him committed to an institution. Among these was Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins. In May 1989, Jenkins was practicing law in Smithfield. Jennings came to Jenkins' office to have a will drawn. According to Jenkins' testimony, Jennings said defendant had physically beaten him, dragged him across the room, and stomped him with her cowboy boots. Jennings told Jenkins defendant had threatened to stomp him to death with her cowboy boots. Jennings also told Jenkins defendant had tried to have him committed. Jenkins testified that Jennings was a frail man physically but was not confused and appeared well oriented. Jenkins had no reservations or doubts about Jennings' competency. Jennings never returned to Jenkins' office to sign the legal documents.

    On 19 September 1989, defendant and Jennings were staying at the Hampton Inn in Wilson. About 9:30 p.m., defendant called the desk and said she had a "code blue." The hotel manager called 911, and emergency medical personnel arrived at 9:35 p.m. They found defendant performing CPR on Jennings, who was lying nude on the floor. Paramedic Larry Parnell testified that he asked defendant how long Jennings had been "down." Defendant, Parnell testified, said Jennings had been down five to ten minutes. When Parnell began doing CPR on Jennings, Jennings' skin appeared cool and his body seemed generally stiff. Paramedic Lee Fowler testified that when he arrived at the hotel room, defendant was wearing a black nightgown and brown cowboy boots.

    Jennings was taken to Wilson Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Emergency room physician Dr. Andrew Duerr testified that in his opinion Jennings had been dead for at least several hours.

    For much more, see: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/nc-s...3/jennings.asc

  2. #2
    Jan
    Guest
    NC woman gets life after 23 years on death row

    A woman who has spent 23 years on North Carolina's death row for the beating death of her husband has been sentenced to life in prison.

    The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that a judge in Wilson made the decision Thursday involving 70-year-old Patricia Jennings.

    She had been sentenced to die in 1990 for the beating death of her 80-year-old husband, Bill Jennings.

    Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons ruled that Jennings had received poor legal counsel at the time of her trial. Her attorneys failed to ask that jurors consider she had no significant criminal history.

    Jennings' attorneys agreed to drop a separate claim that the State Bureau of Investigation concealed favorable lab results and used false and unreliable evidence to get her conviction and death sentence.

    http://www.wxii12.com/news/local-new...?absolute=true

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •