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Thread: Courtney Larrell Lockhart - Alabama Death Row

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    Courtney Larrell Lockhart - Alabama Death Row






    March 8, 2008

    Robbery suspect faces murder charges in Auburn killing

    By TIM EBERLY and JEFFRY SCOTT
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    AUBURN, Ala. — One neighbor who grew up with Courtney Lockhart in his eastern Alabama town describes him as a troublemaker who liked to pick on younger boys.

    Another says Lockhart seemed like a good kid who mowed his family's lawn and always said hello to her at the Wal-Mart.

    Both neighbors, however, were taken aback to learn that the 23-year-old from Smiths Station, Ala., had been charged Saturday with capital murder in a case everyone in town had heard about the shooting death of Marietta's Lauren Burk, a freshman at Auburn University.

    "That's crazy," said another neighbor, Thomas Moore, 19, who said Lockhart bullied him as a youngster, too. "I wouldn't have believed that."

    Lockhart's arrest came three days after Burk was found fatally wounded Tuesday night along a highway not far from the university.

    Burk's murder drew enough interest that Auburn police assembled a task force of local, state and federal investigators to find her killer.

    But it was police officers from Phenix City who caught and arrested Lockhart on Friday. Phenix City is about a 35-mile drive from the Auburn campus.

    "I wouldn't call it a lucky break," Auburn police Assistant Chief Tommy Dawson said Saturday. "I would call it a blessing from God."

    Police held a news conference in Auburn late Saturday morning to announce that Lockhart has been charged with three crimes: capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a robbery and capital murder during an attempted rape.

    The announcement came less than six hours before Burk was set to be memorialized at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta. Her funeral is 5:30 p.m. today at Marietta's Temple Kol Emeth.

    Lockhart's case will be presented to a grand jury on May 5. He is being held in the Russell County jail but is expected to be moved next week to the jail in Lee County, where records show he served time in 2002 for harassment.

    Lockhart did not know the 18-year-old Burk, and he acted alone, police said. Aside from that, police are releasing few details.

    Dawson would not say how investigators linked Lockhart to the crime. He did say police have "a lot of evidence," but declined to elaborate.

    "We have the right individual in jail," Dawson said. "I'm 100 percent sure of that."

    Burk's slaying drew national interest, compounded by a similar storyline that was developing at another quaint Southern college town: the murder of a young co-ed and student leader at University of North Carolina. CNN carried live feeds from 11 a.m. Saturday news conferences involving both cases.

    Both women were from north Georgia and were shot to death, though police say the homicides are not linked.

    Burk's family has kept mum this week, leaving interviews to a family spokeswoman, Kathy Singleton. Minutes after the formal announcement of Lockhart's arrest, Singleton said Burk's family "feels relieved."

    "On the day of Lauren's service, it's a comfort to know that the police have moved so swiftly on this," she said.

    Lockhart was arrested late Friday morning after he led Phenix City police on a high-speed chase. He declined comment as officers walked him out of the Phenix City police station and put him in the back of a cruiser on his way to jail late Friday night.

    A traffic officer pulled him over for speeding. But Lockhart took off in his silver Chrysler Sebring when two other investigators were called to the scene. Backup was brought in because Lockhart's vehicle matched the description of one that was involved in a recent robbery, Phenix City police Lt. Curt Lewis said.

    Lockhart didn't get far. Police believe his engine blew out, forcing him to get out of the car and run, Lewis said.

    That chase, too, was short. With an officer close behind him, Lockhart stopped, hit the ground and put his hands behind his back, Lewis said.

    Lockhart later confessed to robbing an elderly woman last week outside a Wal-Mart in Phenix City, as well as four other robberies in the area, Lewis said.

    Before Friday's arrest, the task force assigned to the case was making progress on its own, Dawson said. Investigators obtained a photo of Lockhart shortly after the murder, and had it enhanced with the help of NASA.

    They just didn't know who he was.

    The photo might have come from a local gas station's surveillance footage.

    The day after Burk's murder, investigators went to the Farmville Mini-Mart, near where Burk was found fatally wounded, and took photos of surveillance footage that showed a man buying gas, said the store's manager, Anna Tidwell.

    But Tidwell said she didn't know whether the man captured by the store's camera was Lockhart.

    Residents on Lee Road, meanwhile, are left to wonder what's to come for the young man who reportedly played high school football and later went into the military.

    "I'm in shock. I really am," neighbor T.J. Moore said. "Just because there's never been anything negative going on over there. They seem to be a nice family."

    http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...rest_0309.html

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    In 2008, Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk, of Marietta, was found fatally shot along a highway not far from the college.


    Trial beginning in killing of Auburn student from Marietta

    The trial is set to begin Monday for the man accused of killing an Auburn University freshman from Marietta nearly three years ago.

    Lauren Burk, a 2007 graduate of Walton High School, was found shot along a desolate stretch of Ala. 147 a few miles north of Auburn on March 4, 2008. She died later that night at East Alabama Medical Center.

    About 20 minutes after the 18-year-old woman was found, her Honda Civic was discovered engulfed in flames in a campus parking lot near the Auburn marching band’s practice field.

    Courtney Lockhart, then 23, was arrested three days after Burk was found mortally wounded and charged with capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a robbery and capital murder during an attempted rape.

    Lockhart, who is from Smith’s Station, Ala., about 27 miles from Auburn, was taken into custody after leading Phenix City, Ala., police on a vehicle and foot chase.

    Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Opelika, Ala., in Lockhart’s death penalty trial.

    The Alabama Supreme Court last month denied an appeal from Lockhart’s attorneys to move the trial out of Lee County. His lawyers had argued that extensive pretrial publicity had tainted the jury pool.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/trial-b...=cmg_cntnt_rss

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    Day 2 in Courtney Lockhart Capital Murder Trial

    OPELIKA, AL (WTVM) - Day two in the Capital Murder trial of Courtney Lockhart who's accused of kidnapping, robbing, attempting to rape and killing Auburn University Freshman Lauren Burk.

    Media coverage is playing a large role in determining the jury, they were asked several times if they had seen any coverage, how much, from what sources and would it alter their judgments in the case.

    Roughly 95 percent of the individuals compiled in the panels from Tuesday say they've seen media coverage of the Courtney Lockhart case.

    The jurors were divided into 26 small groups, called panels, each one containing roughly 5 to 8 people, where they were asked specific questions. Then individuals were brought in one at a time where they were asked further questions by both the defense and prosecution.

    Lockhart wearing an Olive Blazer and Khaki's watched calmly as Judge Jacob Walker focused heavily on the jurors opinions of the sentences, life without parole and the death penalty, if Lockhart is found guilty.

    They were asked if they object to the death penalty for capital murder, do they believe the death penalty should be immediately imposed for capital murder, do they believe life without parole should be automatically imposed and more.

    District Attorney Nick Abbett told the jurors today, around 50 witnesses would be those who had seen or handled evidence in the case, mostly law enforcement, and warned some pictures and recordings will be graphic. Lockhart's defense asked jurors their thoughts on post traumatic stress disorder and if they or any of their family members have suffered from it.

    Lockhart was in the army for 3 years and served in Iraq. He was dishonorably discharged for punching a sergeant

    The jury will be dwindled down to a total of 12 with three alternates. Judge Walker said they expect this case to last two weeks, holding trial this Thursday (Veterans Day) and may also hold trial next Saturday if need be. Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday, as it will be the first video allowed to be taken in the trial.

    http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=13473981

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    Lauren Burk trial | Slain Auburn freshman 'looked like an angel'

    Opelika, Ala. — Traumatized Iraqi war veteran or cold-blooded killer?

    A Lee County jury must decide which is responsible for the death of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk of Marietta.

    Defense and prosecuting attorneys laid out their cases Friday in the capital murder trial of 26-year-old Courtney Lockhart of Smiths Station, Ala. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty.

    Burk, a 2007 graduate of Walton High School, was found shot along a rural section of Ala. 147, less than four miles from the Auburn University campus, on March 4, 2008. She died later that night at East Alabama Medical Center.

    Her father’s testimony was the most emotional of the day.

    “She was 18 and had her whole life ahead of her,” James Burk said.

    He talked about seeing his daughter’s dead body on a gurney, breaking down and kissing her on the forehead.

    “They didn’t have to ask me if it was her — they knew from the look on my face,” Burk said. “She looked like an angel. I couldn’t believe it. She was a happy girl, a shining star. She lost her whole future.”

    Lockhart was arrested three days later in Phenix City, Ala.

    “Courtney Lockhart approached her with a pistol, forced her into her own car and left with her,” Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett said in his opening statement.

    “They drove around and in the process the defendant removed her clothing except for her socks. At that point she realized she wasn’t going to make it and she made a heroic effort to save her life and jumped out of that moving vehicle, and in the process, the defendant shot her.”

    Defense attorney Jeremy Armstrong painted Lockhart as a victim of post traumatic stress disorder, saying witnesses will detail how Lockhart changed after his tour of duty in Iraq.

    “You will hear how he was a different guy when he came back than when he left. Courtney knew something was wrong, he just didn’t know what.”

    Armstrong also said the facts would show that Lockhart did not intend to kill Burk.

    Burk’s mother, Vivian Guerchon, cried openly in the front row of the gallery as witness Savannah Benford described Lauren gasping for breath and shaking as she lay face up in the road that night.

    More than 15 members of the Burk family were in the courtroom.

    Witnesses talked about spotting Burk naked in the road, her body covered in “road rash” from her jump from her speeding car and a bullet wound in her left shoulder.

    Others talked about attempts to save her life through CPR.

    Her car was later found burning near a band practice field on the Auburn University campus.

    During questioning after his arrest, Lockhart confessed to the Auburn killing and admitted other crimes in east Alabama and west Georgia, police said.

    Lockhart pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/lauren-...in-738710.html

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    Lauren Burk trial | Testimony tracks last night of student's life

    OPELIKA, Ala. — An Iraq War veteran accused of killing an Auburn University freshman was found with the victim's iPod when police caught up to him after a high speed chase, during which he threw a gun out the window of his car, witnesses testified Monday.

    Courtney Lockhart, 26, is in the second week of his trial on capital murder in the 2008 shooting death of 18-year-old Lauren Burk. Her sister, Jaklyn Semones, tearfully testified that the iPod found on Lockhart when he was arrested was a Christmas gift she had given her sister in 2006.

    Defense attorneys say Lockhart was mentally troubled when he returned home to Smith's Station from Iraq and he has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. If convicted, Lockhart could face the death penalty.

    A week after Burk's kidnapping and killing, Lockhart led Phenix City police on a chase for two or three miles before colliding with a police motorcycle. Police chased him on foot into the woods and when he was being led out, he apologized, saying he "tried to get help" after returning home from Iraq, Officer Darryl Williams testified. Lockhart did not say what he was specifically sorry about.

    Also, a pistol was found alongside the road where police had chased Lockhart's vehicle. Police investigator Andy Langley testified without the jury in the room that Lockhart told him that he threw his gun out of the car during the chase.

    Lockhart is accused of kidnapping Burk in her car, forcing her to disrobe, shooting her in the back as she tried to flee while the car was moving, then leaving her to bleed to death on the road. John Daniels, a medical examiner with the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, testified that Burk died within minutes of being shot in the back at close range on the night of March 4, 2008.

    Also during a busy day of testimony, jurors heard about the final hours of Burk's life — hanging out with her boyfriend, planning to meet a friend to study. It included an account of a brief, hurried phone call that may have been the last known conversation with Burk of Marietta.

    Among the first witnesses Monday was former Auburn student Sean McQuade. He said he was Burk's boyfriend and that they hung out at his apartment for several hours the evening she was killed. He described a mostly relaxed time — she slept, he watched television, they argued briefly about how she looked in a certain outfit — that ended when she left to meet a friend to study.

    Asked by prosecutor Nick Abbett if he ever saw Burk again, McQuade said, "not alive, no sir."

    Childhood friend Michael de St. Aubin of Marietta, testified that Burk never showed up to study for an upcoming history exam. Under questioning by Abbett, St. Aubin said at one point he called her cell phone and had a brief, strained conversation.

    "I asked her if she was ready to study. She told me about a birthday dinner for a friend she had forgotten about," St. Aubin said. He said Burk seemed in a hurry to get off the phone and that it sounded like she was in a car. Prosecutors did not say if they believed she received the call after being kidnapped.

    McQuade testified that a short time later, he received a call from Burk's mother, who said the family had been notified by Auburn police that Burk's car had been found burning in the parking lot of the university's band practice field.

    Police investigators also presented evidence that Burk's credit card had been used to buy gas at a station near campus after Burk had been kidnapped.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/lauren-...ny-742678.html

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    Closing arguments to be heard in Lockhart murder trial

    OPELIKA, AL (WTVM) - News Leader 9 has learned that prosecution has rested in the capital murder trial of an Army vet accused of killing an Auburn University Student.

    We are told closing arguments are underway.

    Twenty-six-year-old Courtney Lockhart is on trial for the March 2008 kidnapping, attempted rape, robbery and capital murder of AU freshman Lauren Burk.

    It is the 8th day of proceedings. Tuesday, the court admitted written statements from Lockhart. In those statements, he admitted to kidnapping Burk and using in her credit card.

    Lockhart is an Iraq War veteran. The defense team claims he was mentally disturbed and suffering from PTSD because of his war experience.

    News Leader 9 is following this story. We'll have the latest statements and video as soon as it becomes available.

    Background

    In March 2008, the 18-year-old college freshman was abducted in her own car and shot. She was found lying in a roadway in March of 2008 near Farmville Baptist Church in Auburn, AL.

    She was transported to the East Alabama Medical Center where she died from a gunshot wound.

    Her car, a 2001 Black Honda Civic, was then driven back to campus then set ablaze.

    Police arrested Lockhart days later. Police say Lockhart confessed to the crimes after his arrest. He was charged with three counts of capital murder, kidnapping, and attempted rape and robbery.

    After several status hearings and a defense motion to move the trial from Opelika due to media coverage which the lower and Alabama Supreme Court denied; the case is finally set to get underway two years after the murder.

    Auburn freshman, Lauren Burk, 18, was found lying in the road in March 2008 near Farmville

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if Lockhart is found guilty.

    http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=13518766

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    Jury returns guilty verdict in Lockhart trial

    AUBURN, AL (WSFA) - Courtney Lockhart, the man accused of kidnapping and murdering Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk in 2008, stood before a jury and heard the verdict against him: Guilty.

    The jury immediately went back into deliberation to hear instructions on sentencing for Lockhart.

    He faces two possible sentences: Life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

    http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=13530965

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    Lauren Burk trial | Courtney Lockhart gets life without parole

    The man convicted of killing a Marietta teenager in 2008 will spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole.

    After delivering a guilty verdict on the charge of capital murder Thursday afternoon, a Lee County jury sentenced Courtney Lockhart to life in prison for killing 2007 Walton High graduate and Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk.

    The jury took about an hour to decide Lockhart’s fate.

    Lauren’s father, Jim Burk, thanked the district attorney, jury and police chief in a prepared statement. He thanked the media for respecting the family's privacy.

    Jim Burk said the family still has questions about why their daughter's death happened. "But hopefully we can find answers in the future," he said. "We continue to pray for Lauren.”

    The courtroom was filled with family and friends of Burk and the group reacted emotionally as the verdict was read by Judge Jacob Walker III.

    Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett presented to the jury that the crime that Lockhart committed had the criteria fitting the death penalty in that it was a murder during the commission of a robbery and during a kidnapping. The prosecution didn’t call a single witness in the sentencing phase.

    Defense attorney Jeremy Armstrong pleaded for Lockhart’s life, calling friends and family members to talk about Lockhart’s life, before and after serving in Iraq.

    Speaking to Burk’s mother Viviane Guerchon from the witness stand, Lockhart’s mother Catherine Williams offered a tearful apology.

    “I am sorry from the bottom of my heart,” Williams said. “If I could take away what happened to your daughter I would, but I don’t have that power. I feel you pain because I’m a mother too. If I could, I would get up and hug you, but they probably wouldn’t let me do that. I am sorry.”

    Lockhart had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and the defense said he had symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder even though examinations failed to diagnosis Lockhart with the problem.

    His estranged father Curtis James testified about not being there for his son and recounted seeing Lockhart for the first time in more than 20 years when he arrived in court Thursday.

    “I saw my son for the first time in 20 years,” James said. “I asked him if he was OK. He said ‘where were you.’”

    Lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole were the only two options the jury had after reaching its verdict.

    The eight men and four women deliberated for six and a half hours before finding Lockhart guilty. They had asked the judge for clarification of intent and asked to see Lockhart’s full confession video a second time before reaching a decision.

    Lockhart, of Smith’s Station, Ala., admitted on tape, abducting, robbing and holding a gun that fired and killed Burk on March 4, 2008.

    Burk was found naked and dying, shot in the back about four miles from the Auburn University campus where she was then a freshman.

    Before giving its verdict today, the jury watched for the second time the killer's entire 90-minute interview with investigators after he was arrested on March 7, 2008.

    The jury, consisting of three blacks and nine whites, began deliberations Wednesday and had asked the judge for legal clarification on “intent.”

    Lockhart is black and Burk was white.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/lauren-...ey-745395.html

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    Burk family speaks out following Lockhart's murder conviction

    OPELIKA, AL (WSFA) - Murder victim Lauren Burk's family moves closer to closure after a Lee County jury convicted Courtney Lockhart of capital murder.

    Later the same jurors deliberated a sentence. They recommended life in prison without parole rather than their other choice, death by lethal injection.

    Two years, eight months, and two weeks after their worst nightmare played out, Lauren Burk's family finally feels like justice has been served.

    "I know this is crazy, but I feel like Lauren is resting in peace better tonight than she was last night. As a father I wanted to make sure this ended in justice...Very difficult listening to details and hearing things you haven't heard before," said Jim Burk.

    While the trial wasn't easy for Lauren's mother Vivian and father Jim, both say they're forever grateful for the work of the prosecution.

    Burk's mother also responded to the tearful apology from Courtney Lockhart's mother Catherine.

    "I didn't expect her to do that but I thought it was very kind of her," said Vivian Burk.

    WSFA 12 News tried to talk to the family of Courtney Lockhart but they declined an interview as they left the courthouse with heavy hearts.

    As the emotional trial came to a close, the Burk family say that their tears are all gone.

    They say they're leaning on each other to move forward as a family.

    "We have two beautiful children and we're going to be strong because that's what Lauren would want and that's what we're gonna do," added Mr. Burk.

    While the jury has recommended life without parole, Judge Jacob Walker can still overturn that and give Courtney Lockhart the death penalty.

    The sentencing is set for January 28th.

    http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=13534546

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    Sentencing date set for Lockhart

    A Lee County Circuit judge will announce on Jan. 28 whether convicted killer Courtney L. Lockhart will spend his life in prison or die for the March 2008 slaying of Lauren Burk.

    Last month, a 12-member jury unanimously recommended that Judge Jacob A. Walker III sentence Lockhart, 26, of Smiths Station, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    The same jury sat through four days of testimony before finding the Iraq war veteran guilty of kidnapping Burk, an 18-year-old Auburn University freshman from Marietta, Ga., from campus and robbing and killing her.

    Walker can accept the jury’s recommendation or overrule it and sentence Lockhart to die by lethal injection.

    He issued an order Thursday, scheduling the sentencing hearing for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 28.

    Defense attorneys Jeremy Armstrong and Joel Collins asked the jury during the penalty phase of the trial to consider a life sentence for a man they say became paranoid and withdrawn when he returned home after an 11-month tour.

    The prosecution, led by veteran district attorney Nick Abbett, advocated for the death penalty. He called Lockhart a “predator” who targeted “easy prey” on the college campus.

    Lockhart has been jailed in the Lee County Detention Center since his arrest on March 7, 2008. Alabama does not permit bond in capital murder cases.

    http://www2.oanow.com/news/2010/dec/...rt-ar-1166142/

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