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Thread: Mark Norwood Sentenced to Life in Prison in 1988 TX Murder of Debra Jan Baker

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  1. #1
    Moderator MRBAM's Avatar
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    Mark Norwood Sentenced to Life in Prison in 1988 TX Murder of Debra Jan Baker


    Wedding photograph of Michael and Christine Morton


    Victim Debra Jan Baker


    (Right) Mark Alan Norwood in the 1980s and (left) recent photo


    Mark Alan Norwood Sentenced to Life in 1986 TX Slaying of Christine Morton


    GEORGETOWN — Special prosecutor Lisa Tanner will not seek the death penalty for Mark Norwood, the Bastrop man charged with the 1986 murder of Christine Morton, a crime for which her husband was wrongfully imprisoned for nearly 25 years.

    Tanner, an assistant attorney general who is leading the case against Norwood, filed a notice Wednesday in the 368th Williamson County District Court advising the court that the state would not seek the death penalty after consulting with family members of Christine Morton.

    She was found bludgeoned to death in her bed on Aug. 13, 1986, in the home she shared with her husband, Michael Morton, and their 3-year-old son, Eric, in North Austin. Michael Morton was convicted or her murder in February 1987, though he maintained his innocence. He spent 24 years and seven months in prison before DNA evidence proved that he was innocent. He was released in October 2011.

    In a notice of intent filed Wednesday in Williamson County, Tanner wrote that Morton, his son Eric and Christine Morton's siblings expressed their desire that Norwood not be sentenced to death if he were convicted.

    After a more than six-year-long fight to obtain DNA testing on a bloody bandana found about 100 yards away from the Mortons' home, the results showed that Christine Morton's blood was mixed with the DNA of Norwood. Additional DNA testing also identified Norwood's DNA at the scene of another murder. Debra Masters Baker, like Christine Morton, was beaten to death in her bed. Her 1988 murder remained a cold case until the DNA testing last year.

    Norwood was charged with Christine Morton's murder and arrested in November 2011. He is considered a suspect in Baker's murder. Norwood's lawyer, Russell Hunt Jr., has said his client maintains his innocence in both cases.

    Norwood's trial is scheduled to take place Jan. 7 in San Angelo after Judge Burt Carnes agreed to move the trial out of Williamson County because of extensive media coverage of the case in Central Texas.

    http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/michael-morton/prosecutor-wont-seek-death-penalty-in-86-murder/

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Testimony begins in wrongful-conviction case

    A stolen gun and DNA evidence link a drifter to the 1986 murder of an Austin woman whose husband was wrongfully convicted in her death and spent nearly 25 years in prison before being exonerated, prosecutors told jurors Tuesday during opening statements in the new trial.

    Mark Alan Norwood, 58, is being tried for the beating death of Christine Morton, who was attacked in her north Austin home. Prosecutors allege Norwood beat and sexually assaulted the woman and stole a gun from her home, but defense attorneys say the DNA evidence easily could have been contaminated.

    Morton's husband, Michael, was initially convicted in her death in 1987, but he was exonerated and freed in 2011 after new DNA testing was done on a bloody bandanna found near the couple's home. Investigators said the DNA evidence led them to Norwood, whose DNA was in a national database thanks to his long criminal history. He also has been indicted in a 1988 slaying of another Austin woman who lived near the Mortons.

    Prosecutor Lisa Tanner told jurors that DNA testing wasn't available when the blood on the bandanna was initially tested in 1986. Authorities say the bandanna had Norwood's DNA as well as Christine Morton's blood and hair.

    "The evidence was there all along," Tanner said. "The science just needed to catch up."

    Tanner also revealed for the first time that investigators in 2011 had found a .45 Colt pistol that was missing from the Mortons' home at the time of the murder. Tanner said a man named Louis Wann who had hired Norwood to help remodel a house in Austin told investigators Norwood had sold him the gun in 1986. Norwood had worked in construction jobs near the Mortons' home around the time of the killing, according to investigators.

    Michael Morton, who was the first witness to testify, said he learned that the gun, which was registered to him, was missing after he came home from work the day his wife was killed.

    But Norwood's lawyer, Ariel Payan, told jurors that the DNA evidence allegedly linking his client to the murder could have been contaminated. Payan said the two issues jurors will need to consider in the trial were "contamination and liars."

    "You have to weigh the pieces of evidence," he said during his opening statement.

    The trial is being held in San Angelo after being moved from Williamson County, near Austin, because of publicity in the case. The Texas Attorney General's Office is handling the prosecution and is not seeking the death penalty.

    Last month, a special hearing known as a court of inquiry was held to examine whether state district Judge Ken Anderson acted improperly in 1987 when, as Williamson County district attorney, he prosecuted Michael Morton. Morton's lawyers have accused Anderson of intentionally hiding evidence.

    Anderson has denied any wrongdoing. A decision by a judge on whether Anderson should face criminal charges in the case might come next month. Anderson also is being sued by the State Bar of Texas for his conduct in the Morton case.

    http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?se...ate&id=9033526
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  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Texas man found guilty in wrongful conviction case

    A jury has convicted a man for the murder of an Austin woman whose husband was wrongfully convicted of her slaying and spent nearly 25 years in prison before being exonerated.

    The San Angelo Standard-Times reports jurors in San Angelo on Wednesday found Mark Alan Norwood guilty of capital murder in the death of Christine Morton. He faces up to life in prison.

    Morton's husband, Michael Morton, was initially convicted in her 1986 death, but he was freed in 2011 after new DNA testing on a bandanna found near the couple's home exonerated him and linked Norwood to the crime.

    The prosecutor in Morton's case, now a judge, is accused of hiding evidence from defense attorneys.

    Publicity in the case led a judge to move Norwood's trial to San Angelo.

    http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013...#ixzz2PIYffReN
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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Norwood attorneys appeal capital murder conviction

    Attorneys for Mark Norwood have officially asked for a new trial.

    Last week, Norwood was convicted of capital murder for the 1986 slaying of Christine Morton. He is also charged with the murder of Debra Baker here in Austin.

    The jury was allowed to hear evidence about the Baker case. Norwood's attorney says that prejudiced the jury against him.

    Morton's husband Michael was initially convicted of her murder and spent almost 25 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2011.

    http://www.kvue.com/news/Norwood-att...201528691.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  5. #5
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    Mark Alan Norwood is serving Life and will be eligible for parole on November 09, 2031 at the age of 77.

    http://offender.tdcj.state.tx.us/POS...n?sid=01841441

  6. #6
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Trial delayed again for suspect in 1988 murder

    AUSTIN (KXAN) — The family of a woman killed in 1988 is furious the suspect will not go to trial until September.

    Previous:

    http://austin.twcnews.com/content/ne...of-debra-baker

    http://kxan.com/2014/08/27/mark-norw...8-murder-case/

    Mark Norwood, who appeared in court Monday, is charged with capital murder in the death of Debra Baker. She was beaten to death in her Austin home 27 years ago. The case went unsolved until 2011 when prosecutors say DNA evidence pointed to Norwood as a suspect.

    His trial was supposed to begin in February, but a judge pushed it back to the fall.

    Caitlin Baker says the move is preventing her family from having closure.

    “My grandmother…is 91 and at this point she doesn’t expect to see the end of this and we need her to see the end of this,” Baker said. “We’ve tried to tell them multiple times but all they have are delays and we need this to come to a conclusion as soon as possible.”

    Norwood is already in prison for the 1986 murder of Christine Morton. DNA evidence helped lead to that conviction. Christine’s husband, Michael Morton, was wrongly convicted of that crime and spent decades in prison. He was exonerated back in 2011.

    http://kxan.com/2015/01/12/trial-del...n-1988-murder/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #7
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    Mark Norwood’s capital murder trial set for September

    Mark Norwood arrived in court today for the trial hearing in the 1988 capital murder of Debra Baker.

    The trial is on track to start September 14.

    Norwood has been charged with the murder of Baker who was found beaten to death in her home twenty seven years ago.

    Previously the case was unsolved until 2011 when, according to prosecutors, DNA evidence pinpointed Norwood as the suspect.

    Norwood is already in prison for the murder of Christine Morton in 1986. Her husband, Michael Morton, was exonerated for the murder last year after spending 25 years in prison for her death.

    KXAN reporter, Shannon Wolfson, investigated the “well-meaning law” that is supposed to require biological evidence be tested in capital murder cases before they go to trial, but could be keeping killers free longer.

    http://kxan.com/2015/08/19/mark-norw...for-september/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  8. #8
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    August 19, 2016

    Mark Norwood Returns to Court

    Accused killer in 1988 murder now three weeks from second trial

    Mark Alan Norwood made an appearance in Judge Julie Kocurek's 390th District Court on Monday. The 62-year-old was there to hammer out a few pretrial hang-ups before the long-awaited jury selection begins Sept. 8 in the state's trial against him for the 1988 North Austin murder of Debra Baker.

    Nor*wood is currently serving a life sentence for the 1986 Georgetown murder of Christine Morton, whose husband Michael was originally convicted for that murder, but was exonerated in 2011 after previously unpresented DNA evidence absolved him of the crime. The revelation ended the local careers of two Williamson County district attorneys, one of whom, Ken Anderson, went to jail. The other, John Bradley, got chased out of the country. He's currently Attorney General on the Pacific island of Palau. "The Michael Morton Act," a seminal mandate in the quest for a more open discovery process in criminal cases, passed through Texas' 83rd Legislature in 2013.

    Norwood was convicted that same year, after the aforementioned evidence – a blue bandanna found at a construction site 100 yards away from the crime scene – was shown to carry traces of both Norwood's DNA and Morton's blood. How the Morton case was tried proved somewhat unusual. By March 2013, when it went to trial, Norwood had already been indicted for the Baker murder. The murders occurred two years and 12 miles from each other and featured a number of similarities: young mothers bludgeoned to death in their own homes, and traces of Norwood's DNA within 100 yards of both crime scenes. In a San Angelo courtroom, where the Morton case was tried on account of all the publicity the murder received in Williamson and Travis counties, Williamson County District Judge Burt Carnes allowed Asst. Attorney General Lisa Tanner to introduce evidence tying Norwood to Baker's murder. The jury did not know at the time that Norwood had been indicted.

    Indications Monday suggest that the state's effort to convict Norwood of Baker's murder will depend on district prosecutors Gary Cobb and Allison Wetzel's ability to once again associate Morton's murder with Baker's. At issue in Monday's hearing were motions from the state requesting that five witnesses called to testify at Norwood's trial not be required to show up in Kocurek's court. The two crimes took place 30 years ago; in many cases, witnesses are old, sick, or have moved away.

    One witness, Louis Homer Wann, is now deceased, but his involvement may prove pivotal. Wann and Norwood worked construction together around the time of both murders and have an extensive history that involves Wann running off to Nashville with Norwood's ex-wife. More central to the murders is that Wann was at one point in possession of a gun that was stolen from Michael Morton's closet at the time of Christine's murder. During his video deposition – provided in lieu of an in-person testimony because health problems made it too difficult for him to travel – Wann said he purchased the gun from Norwood. Norwood's attorneys during the Morton trial spent much of their time trying to discredit Wann's character.

    Cobb and Wetzel have requested that video testimony and depositions from the Morton trial be allowed for all five witnesses. Norwood's current attorneys, Brad Urrutia and William Browning, agreed to allow Wann's deposition, but opposed the motions for the other four witnesses. Kocurek asked that prosecutors circle back with each witness to get further documentation of their inability to travel, and present that at what could be the final pretrial hearing, Aug. 23.

    Also on the 23rd, Kocurek is expected to issue a response to two letters given to her by Norwood, one of which concerns case documents of his that went missing after he was transferred from a unit in Huntsville to Travis County, and another that charges his attorneys with not properly investigating a conversation involving Wann, recorded in 2012, that a private investigator working with Norwood's family had dug up.

    http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/...urns-to-court/

  9. #9
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Judge denies motion to throw out Mark Norwood DNA evidence

    By Andy Jechow
    KXAN News

    AUSTIN (KXAN) — Mark Norwood, already serving a life sentence for the 1986 murder of a woman in her northwest Austin, was in court on Tuesday to determine the fate of a DNA sample that could link him to additional cases.

    Norwood is about to go on trial for the alleged murder of another woman, Debra Baker, who was beaten to death in her home in 1988. The case went unsolved until DNA evidence pointed to Norwood as a suspect in 2011.

    Defense Attorney Bradley Urrutia filed a motion to suppress the DNA taken from Norwood. Investigators had requested a sample from Norwood to compare to DNA in the other cases.

    Urrutia argued that his client was under duress when he gave his consent for saliva and hair samples. The judge disagreed.

    On Thursday, a final hearing will be held to make sure they’re on track for the trial start on Monday, Sept. 12. Urrutia says Norwood maintains his innocence.

    The trial, initially planned for a 2015 start date, has been reset numerous times.

    http://kxan.com/2016/09/06/judge-den...-dna-evidence/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #10
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Prosecutors won't seek death penalty in Texas capital murder trial

    AUSTIN, Texas — It seems fitting that a man accused of beating two women to death as they slept on the 13th day of a month will stand trial for one of those murders on the 13th day of this month.

    Mark Alan Norwood, who is serving a life sentence for the 1986 slaying of Christine Morton, goes to trial a day after Monday’s jury selection on a capital murder charge for the 1988 killing of Debra Baker. His trial could bring to a close, at last, the second of two North Austin killings in the late 1980s intertwined by striking similarities — young brunette mothers beaten with a wooden object as they lay in bed on the 13th day of a month.

    Prosecutors in the Baker case say they will not pursue the death penalty, meaning regardless of the outcome, Norwood’s fate will be unchanged and he will spend the rest of his life in prison for the Morton conviction. In 2014, a state appeals court upheld the lower court’s verdict.

    Nevertheless, Norwood is exerting great energy to profess his innocence. Since June, he has mailed 11 handwritten letters to his attorneys and to Judge Julie Kocurek criticizing the effectiveness of his defense team and suggesting exculpatory evidence is being ignored. In one of the letters, Norwood claimed authorities made threats against a man’s dog to coerce him to testify for the prosecution in the Morton trial.

    A death sentence is not on the table, prosecutor Gary Cobb said, because the district attorney’s office agreed with a review committee’s recommendation against it. Similarly, prosecutors declined to pursue a death sentence in the Morton trial at the request of the Morton and Norwood families.

    http://www.correctionsone.com/capita...-murder-trial/
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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