GUILTY NC - Laura Ackerson, 27, Kinston, 13 July 2011 #1

[SurfieTX]

jrb, thank you for that timeline! This has been driving me crazy, trying to figure out WHO saw her at 9:30 PM on July 13 in Raleigh. Who is the source, or where is it quoted about this source who saw her after she visited the children at Grant's?

I also think, based on the AH's nephew's FB posting at 9:38AM on July 16, that AH was en route to TX that morning ("aunt amanda is on her way...")

As to the listing the couch for sale on 7/14...that thought creeps me out. How strange is that? Kill someone on 7/13 and list your furniture for sale on Craigslist the next day. Did they need quick cash to take a trip to Texas without leaving a credit card trail?

I agree. That also, at least IMO, points to the fact that Laura was not dismembered in the apt. - unless they stayed up all night frantically cleaning the apt. Even still, I would be paranoid as all get out to have strangers coming to a crime scene the very next day.

 

[jmt707]

I thought maybe saving for getting to the virgin islands. But i bet ur right about the texas trip. u haul rental and gas.

I agree that it could be money for that trip. I believe the asking price was $1,000. However, I felt like it might also contain evidence, which I'll leave to your imagination. If they sold it - it would be hard for police to find it and test it. It's just a guess.

Also, has anyone thought about the fact that if she died on the 13th and they arrived in Texas on the 18th - they had a dead body with them for that many days. They ate meals, went to bed, took care of their kids, posted on craigslist and facebook, made their horrible plans - all while they were concealing a dead body. What an awful thought.

 

[cocomod]

(respectfull snipped)

THU 7/14:

GH and AH put a living room set for sale on craigslist.

FRI 7/15:

(6:30 PM) according to Patsy Hayes (GH's mother), GH called her to complain that LA never showed up at the Sheetz in Wilson to pick up the boys for the weekend as is the norm per the current custody arrangements. PH says he was frustrated and the boys were hot. PH says GH asked her to call LA or go see if she was at her residence/office (both LA and PH live in Kinston). *note that this day 7/15 was actually the coolest day of the month and the coolest day since 30 days prior (86 high). The rest of the week was very, very hot...so in hindsight would recall the week as excessively hot but it was not that FRI*

Great timeline JRB!! :clap: This is exactly how I understood things.

I respectfully snipped to the parts that I have a comment on. First - the craiglist sale - I personally also think that this was cash related. However, it would be terrible to find out that there is evidence related to this furniture set!

I have wondered about the "pick-up" on Friday. I wonder if LE has any surveillance or proof as to whether GH really showed up on Friday. Obviously he knew that Laura would not be there. I wonder about cell phone pings as well. This would be another piece of evidence against him if he didn't even go to the "arranged" meeting spot.

Also, as many others have noted, I question GH's mom. Her comments were back-handed insults to Laura. GH was at her home when he was arrested. Why? Why were they not at their own apartment?

 

[Boodles]

IMO they were on drugs while doing all this! Those poor kids... And the newborn one month old and no mommy, geez, shame shame shame on them for being so evil and stupid!

Amanda's mugshot stats:
Name: Amanda Perry Hayes
Age: 39
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 130
Sex: Female
Arrested: Jul 25, 2011, 2:15 p.m. in Kinston by RPD-Raleigh Police Dept.
Charge: Murder 14-17 (Felony)

5'9" and 130 lbs a month and a half after having a baby? Perhaps she is an addict. Is that height/weight normal?



ETA: Good, no high powered defense lawyers have rushed to their aid, at least yet. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9910196/

 

[MoonRiver]

Held without bond next court date 8/16

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9910196/

 

[cocomod]

http://www.news-record.com/content/...e_raleigh_musician_wife_kill_a_kinston_mother

I love this line in the article! Too true - too true. These two were not the brightest criminals. It is unbelievable how much evidence they left. Thank goodness, but also how terrible sad!! What evil, evil people these two are.

"So they drove through, what, five or six states and over a 40-mile-wide swamp in Louisiana, all so they can bring the body here?" he said. "Fortunately for police, criminals just aren't very smart."

 

[ratter]

I agree. That also, at least IMO, points to the fact that Laura was not dismembered in the apt. - unless they stayed up all night frantically cleaning the apt. Even still, I would be paranoid as all get out to have strangers coming to a crime scene the very next day.

That Craigslist ad is still posted:
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/fuo/2493826660.html


In looking at one of the pictures, I am disturbed by the laundry basket in the background containing that whitish item with the pinkish hue in the center of it. The photo does not lend itself to detailed analysis and I just can't imagine that being a piece of evidence, but given their sloppy approach to trying to conceal their crime, it would not be a complete shock for them to have overlooked something so obvious as a blood-stained bath mat or clothing sitting in a basket in the background.

 

[Ssejors]

Wow these two are totally dumb.

 

[ratter]

FYI, she had also posted a Craigslist ad on July 11 for another set of furniture, "Continental walnut Halltree 1880" for $2000, which would seem to support that they had been trying to raise cash, at least prior to committing the deed.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/atq/2489510897.html

 

[NCEast]

Held without bond next court date 8/16

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9910196/

Never sure how this bond stuff works, and I'm sometimes surprised at how people get out on bond. However, this no bond for right now makes me happy. I hope it will be continued in the 8/16 hearing. These two are definitely flight risks.

 

[RaleighNative]

This case is shocking. I have a few friends who knew GH...though none knew him very well. They said GH was friendly but full of himself, and thought he was some sort of star. Said his number one goal at every event was to hook up with multiple women, and he surrounded himself with people who put him on a pedestal. One person said anytime he played at their restaurant, the staff would roll their eyes. The couldn't stand him. None of the people I know who knew GH, however, thought he was in any way violent. So they are still shocked.

I remember LA from when she was a server at a place around here, but I never got to know her. It's so odd that no one seemed to know LA around here, except through GH...and they don't give much detail.

 

[jmt707]

I remember LA from when she was a server at a place around here, but I never got to know her. It's so odd that no one seemed to know LA around here, except through GH...and they don't give much detail.

Where was she a server? I've always thought she looked familiar to me.

 

[ratter]

Grant had also posted a CL ad on 7/15 at 2:43 pm trying to sell his Macbook. The CL ad was deleted by author, but the remnants remain in cyberspace, as in the attached screenshots.

These guys were trying to sell everything. I guess those ice chests and U-Haul were really straining their budget. And perhaps, in a rare flash of genious, he thought getting rid of that laptop was a good idea after he, mostly likely, had conducted internet searches on "how to dispose of a corpse".

Note the phone number in these ads is Grants, which he lists on another Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dress-Your-iPhone-4-Now/124210097647693?v=info)

 

[RaleighNative]

Where was she a server? I've always thought she looked familiar to me.

Front Row in Wakefield several years ago.

 

[april_showers]

FYI, she had also posted a Craigslist ad on July 11 for another set of furniture, "Continental walnut Halltree 1880" for $2000, which would seem to support that they had been trying to raise cash, at least prior to committing the deed.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/atq/2489510897.html

FYI, she had also posted a Craigslist ad on July 11 for another set of furniture, "Continental walnut Halltree 1880" for $2000, which would seem to support that they had been trying to raise cash, at least prior to committing the deed.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/atq/2489510897.html

Good find!

I do think they were pretty desperate for money. Selling multiple items on craigslist... failing to pay for their psych evaluations... liquidating the inventory from her store (that she was SO excited about just 5 short years ago: http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1957:exciting-year-ahead-for-artists-association-of-st-john&catid=388ctober-22-2007 )

I wonder if, from AH's perspective, this move to NC was supposed to be temporary. Maybe GH promised that they were just coming up here to take care of things with his ex and their kids, and would be back before winter. "Just dealing with my crazy ex, and making sure the kids are ok." Maybe, in all his egotistical glory, he just assumed he could strong-arm the kids away from LA and move on.

Except Laura fought back, hard. She was back on her feet. Out of the watchful eye from his overbearing mom (seriously, and JMO - what was up with that "the kids won't notice she's gone" quote??). Had paid for her psych eval, and appeared to be doing all the right things.

Now what? GH could give up custody and move back to the islands, but now he'd be faced with child support payments. I wonder how AH was feeling through all of this. I bet selling off her valuables on craiglist wasn't what she had in mind when she thought of a life with this guy. I wonder what kind of promises and such he'd spun for her.

ALSO - I am in NO WAY saying ANY of this is justifcation for murder. I am just trying to wrap my brain around why someone would end up a willing accomplice in something like this. I just don't know.... though I could imagine the combination of having a baby and having to sell off prized possessions could make someone pretty territorial and desperate.

 

[SurfieTX]

Amanda's mugshot stats:
Name: Amanda Perry Hayes
Age: 39
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 130
Sex: Female
Arrested: Jul 25, 2011, 2:15 p.m. in Kinston by RPD-Raleigh Police Dept.
Charge: Murder 14-17 (Felony)

5'9" and 130 lbs a month and a half after having a baby? Perhaps she is an addict. Is that height/weight normal?



ETA: Good, no high powered defense lawyers have rushed to their aid, at least yet. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9910196/

It's not normal to me. That said, I was horribly sick with my 2 girls. I gained all of 8 pounds with each. According to the video, the baby weighed 8 pounds and ? ounces (maybe 6?). If she breast fed, then more weight would come off after birth (in my experience). Add in the stress and...yeah.

I still think they were on drugs of some sort. A Myspace page I saw about Grant said yes to both drinking and smoking. Also, he's an "artist," and those atmospheres tend to lend to drug and alcohol abuse. Plus, the mug shot from ?2007?, the goofy one of Grant, was for a DUI.

 

[april_showers]

Grant had also posted a CL ad on 7/15 at 2:43 pm trying to sell his Macbook. The CL ad was deleted by author, but the remnants remain in cyberspace, as in the attached screenshots.

These guys were trying to sell everything. I guess those ice chests and U-Haul were really straining their budget. And perhaps, in a rare flash of genious, he thought getting rid of that laptop was a good idea after he, mostly likely, had conducted internet searches on "how to dispose of a corpse".

Note the phone number in these ads is Grants, which he lists on another Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dress-Your-iPhone-4-Now/124210097647693?v=info)

Not to mention the merchandise section of his website. I know this was created long before their situation got so desperate, but I still think it speaks volumes about the type of person GH is, and how he feels he is entitled to earn money.

Those "Haze Gear" cellphone and laptop skins just blow me away. His art is admittedly decent, but he's not even famous or relevent! Haze Gear? You can't just stick your name on "designer" goods and turn into Louis Vitton or Marc Jacobs. It just SO egotistical, in my humblest of opinions.

 

[NCEast]

Good find!

I do think they were pretty desperate for money. Selling multiple items on craigslist... failing to pay for their psych evaluations... liquidating the inventory from her store (that she was SO excited about just 5 short years ago: http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1957:exciting-year-ahead-for-artists-association-of-st-john&catid=388ctober-22-2007 )

I wonder if, from AH's perspective, this move to NC was supposed to be temporary. Maybe GH promised that they were just coming up here to take care of things with his ex and their kids, and would be back before winter. "Just dealing with my crazy ex, and making sure the kids are ok." Maybe, in all his egotistical glory, he just assumed he could strong-arm the kids away from LA and move on.

Except Laura fought back, hard. She was back on her feet. Out of the watchful eye from his overbearing mom (seriously, and JMO - what was up with that "the kids won't notice she's gone" quote??). Had paid for her psych eval, and appeared to be doing all the right things.

Now what? GH could give up custody and move back to the islands, but now he'd be faced with child support payments. I wonder how AH was feeling through all of this. I bet selling off her valuables on craiglist wasn't what she had in mind when she thought of a life with this guy. I wonder what kind of promises and such he'd spun for her.

ALSO - I am in NO WAY saying ANY of this is justifcation for murder. I am just trying to wrap my brain around why someone would end up a willing accomplice in something like this. I just don't know.... though I could imagine the combination of having a baby and having to sell off prized possessions could make someone pretty territorial and desperate.

She was so pretty in the link you provided. How sad that we make so many wrong decisions in life. Obviously, Amanda has made her share.

 

[NCEast]

This is the N&O afternoon update. Positive ID made on Laura.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/07/26/1369681/body-parts-turn-up-ex-lover-is.html

 

[ratter]

Good find!

...Except Laura fought back, hard. She was back on her feet. Out of the watchful eye from his overbearing mom (seriously, and JMO - what was up with that "the kids won't notice she's gone" quote??). Had paid for her psych eval, and appeared to be doing all the right things....

.....ALSO - I am in NO WAY saying ANY of this is justifcation for murder. I am just trying to wrap my brain around why someone would end up a willing accomplice in something like this. I just don't know.... though I could imagine the combination of having a baby and having to sell off prized possessions could make someone pretty territorial and desperate.

Regarding Laura's efforts to get back on her feet, there are several pictures of her giving a marketing presentation at the Greenville (NC) Area Property Managers meeting in Oct 2010 at the link below. She looks so composed and professional.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...5743239652.255464.251757844652&type=1&theater

It's hard to imagine what is in someone's head before, during, and after such a sequence of events. While GH sounds like an egotistical jerk, I've not seen anyone say either of them were pre-disposed to violence (although Laura's brother hinted at it). At any rate, somewhere between the smiling photographs and the mug shots, they have produced and witnessed their very own horror show and I'm sure they are still processing it themselves.