Alice Vest, 59
Facts of the Crime:
On March 9, 1994, Gerald Delane Murray was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary with an assault, and sexual battery with great force. Murray was sentenced to death for the murder and life for the other two offenses. At around midnight on September 15, 1990, Murray and his friend, Steven Richard Taylor, were dropped off at a mobile home neighborhood by a friend (James “Bubba” Fisher) where the victim, 59-year-old Alice Vest, lived. A Ford Ranchero was reported stolen from a residence near the place where Murray and Taylor had been dropped off. At around 4:30 a.m., a passing motorist noticed the vehicle parked in a driveway next door to the mobile home where Vest lived. Later that day, the Ford Ranchero was found abandoned behind a used car dealership, located only a few blocks away from where Taylor lived at the time.
That same morning of September 15, 1990, residents of the mobile home neighborhood where Vest lived discovered Vest’s badly beaten body in the bedroom of her mobile home. According to the testimony of the medical examiner, Vest had been vaginally and anally raped, strangled, and stabbed approximately 20 times. The medical examiner testified that most of the stab wounds were made with a knife, and the remaining stab wounds were made with a pair of scissors, both of which were found at the scene of the crime. The initial cause of death was ligature strangulation. Vest was alive while she was being stabbed, and she was strangled with an electrical cord after the stabbings. The examiner pointed out multiple fractures found on Vest’s lower jaw, indicating that she received several blows to the head, which were done with a bottle, metal bar, and candlestick. These items were also found at the scene of the crime. Finally, the medical examiner testified that Vest’s breasts were bruised, as a result of “impacting, sucking, or squeezing” while she was alive. In the medical examiner’s opinion, Vest was alive for approximately ten minutes from the first stabbing to the strangulation. The medical examiner was unsure whether Vest was conscious during all or any part of the attack.
According to other trial testimony, the phone line to Vest’s mobile home had been cut, the mobile home had been burglarized, and various pieces of jewelry were missing. During trial, the State admitted hair evidence recovered from Vest’s mobile home. Hair evidence was also sent to an FBI lab in Washington, D.C., for comparison with known hair samples from three persons: Murray, Taylor, and Vest. The hair expert from the FBI concluded that the hairs found on Vest’s nightgown and body were pubic hairs that had the same microscopic characteristics of Murray’s hairs. Taylor was excluded as a possible source of the hairs.
Additional evidence at the trial revealed that, approximately six months after his indictment for Vest (November 22, 1992), Murray escaped from Duval County Jail and was accompanied by a fellow inmate, Anthony Smith. Smith testified for the State that Murray confessed to the rape, robbery, and murder of Vest. On June 9, 1993, approximately seven months after his escape, Murray was captured in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying two false identification cards.
Murray was re-sentenced to death in Duval County for the third time on June 26, 2003.
Co-defendant information:
Steven Richard Taylor (DC# 288500)
Taylor was convicted and sentenced to death for first-degree murder, 15 years for burglary of a dwelling, and 27 years for sexual battery. Taylor was tried separately for his offenses (CC# 91-2456). For more on Taylor, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...rida-Death-Row
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