Linton Moody’s Grave
Etheria Verdell Jackson
Facts of the Crime:
The victim, 64-year-old Linton Moody, owned a retail furniture business in Jacksonville, Florida, with his brother, Wendell. Linton was working at the store until the early afternoon of December 2, 1985. When Linton did not show up for work the next day, Wendell called the police to report his brother missing. Officer Godbee found Linton’s body rolled in a piece of carpet in the rear compartment of Linton’s station wagon on December 5th. Evidence that was found with the body included the victim’s calling card box and briefcase. Linda Riley, Etheria Jackson’s live-in girlfriend and the mother of one of his children, reported the murder on the same day that the body was found.
At trial, Riley testified that she had bought a washing machine on an installment plan from the victim. Linton came by her residence to collect the monthly payment on December 3rd after he cashed a $4,000 check that he used to make change for his clients. Jackson, as well as Riley’s two children, was present when Linton arrived. Linton gave Riley a receipt after cashing her government check, but before he could leave, Jackson assaulted the victim and held a knife to his throat. Riley also said that Jackson told her to take Linton’s wallet and keys after Jackson had forced the victim to the floor. While the victim pleaded for his life, Jackson bound and gagged the victim before choking him to unconsciousness with a belt. When Linton regained consciousness, Jackson used a cast on his forearm to strike the victim’s face. Jackson straddled the victim’s body before stabbing him numerous times in the chest. Riley assisted Jackson in disposing of the body by hiding it in a carpet and putting it in the victim’s station wagon.
Jackson drove the vehicle to an alternate location and abandoned it, where Officer Godbee discovered the station wagon two days later. Riley reported that Jackson returned to the house with two men approximately 45 minutes after he left with the body. When Jackson returned, he asked Riley to inject his arm with cocaine. Testimony was also given at trial by one of the two men who returned with Jackson to the house. The man stated that he and his friend were flagged down while they were driving by a male wearing a cast on his forearm. This man was later identified as Jackson. Jackson inquired as to whether the men knew where to obtain cocaine. When they answered in the affirmative, he offered to buy them a tank of gas by stating, “I’ll fill your tank, I have money all over, I just hit a sweet lick.” The witness later stated that Jackson pulled out bundles of money from his pockets. Upon purchasing the cocaine, the witness reported that they went back to Jackson’s place, and Jackson had his girlfriend inject cocaine into his arm.
The autopsy established that the victim suffered from bruises on his face, head, and neck. The victim also had a shallow slash along his neck, bruises on his kneecaps, and rug-burn on his left elbow. The victim was stabbed seven times in the upper left chest area, which caused massive internal bleeding and was the cause of death. The lack of blood on the lower extremities was indicative that the perpetrator sat astride the victim during the assault. The victim had bruises on the neck consistent with strangulation caused by either a forearm, or maybe a broad belt. In a December 9th interview, Jackson claimed that Riley was the perpetrator of the murder and that he was not at the scene of the crime when it occurred. He further claimed that Riley was having an affair with Linton while Jackson was in prison and that it was this affair that had prompted the murder.
Jackson’s mother presented testimony that he visited her on December 8th and provided her with three varying versions of the killing. At least two of these accounts placed Jackson himself at the scene of the murder. A search warrant was obtained for the cast on Jackson’s forearm. His cast was examined at a hospital for traces of blood, but none was found. One of the detectives who was at the hospital testified that Jackson made statements suggesting that the detective “had him like a hawk,” and Jackson also stated that he “had the opportunity.” When the detective responded with the suggestion that Jackson still had the opportunity to come clean and tell the truth, the detective stated that Jackson responded by stating, “Not really, I have to go with what I told you, I can’t change my story now.” Expert testimony was presented at trial, which matched Jackson’s fingerprints to those fingerprints found on the calling card box in the back of the victim’s station wagon.
Jackson was sentenced to death in Duval County on August 8, 1986.
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