GUILTY NC - Laura Ackerson, 27, Kinston, 13 July 2011 #7

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jmt707 said:
The one question that I wish someone would have asked AH on the stand - "How do you feel about Laura being dead?" Or some variation like "How do you feel about Laura being killed and by your husband even?" I wanted to see her true emotions at work or her bad acting on display, so I could try to give her a good read. You know - body language, tissue usage, choking for words, etc. She really didn't seem to humanize Laura at all - she was a "thing" to be dealt with, alive or dead. I wanted to see her feel bad for this deceased lady and not for the inconvenient disruption to her own life. I believe it would have left little room for doubt.
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Me, too. The cross exam by BH was frustrating to listen to, but asking her direct questions about Laura might have brought out a ton of information. And keep hammering her with it, until Amanda comes undone and screams out that she hated Laura and wanted her obliterated!

As a child, I may have watched too many Perry Mason episodes:crazy:
 
MissSallyAnnie said:
I wonder, did she love Laura?
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You'd think so, MissSally -- she gave all of them two pretty sons (one just like GH, ergo just like her) and took good care of them & loved them more than anything else in the world. I surely hope she did. But no tellin' what her son may have told her when LA started getting "uppity" enuff to look GH in the eyes...
 
otto said:
I'm curious about the timing of the letters and the timing of Grant's trial. Was Amanda trying to keep Grant under control until the end of his trial?
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IIRC they originally were going to be tried together but Judge Stephens ended up giving them separate trials, seems like it was during one of the last pretrial hearings before GH's trial. I think wral has those archived as well.
 
Chelly said:
OMG! Prosecutor just said Patsy's cell phone number!
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He's trying a case -- it shouldn't be his job to tell the camera guy to turn off the mike pick-up. It'll be edited out for the archive -- at least those type things usually are.
 
Can anyone tell me how to get to Patsy's testimony from today?

And thanks for your play-by-play! Informative AND hilarious.
 
borndem said:
You'd think so, MissSally -- she gave all of them two pretty sons (one just like GH, ergo just like her) and took good care of them & loved them more than anything else in the world. I surely hope she did. But no tellin' what her son may have told her when LA started getting "uppity" enuff to look GH in the eyes...
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It seems everyone took Grant at his word, which is strange since his behavior belied everything he said. You'd think at some point Amanda and others would have stopped and thought "hmmm..." Poor Laura got away from him, matured and realized what he was. Thinking about it all really makes me wish they had the death penalty on this one. Some crimes are just so heinous the offenders really need to be removed from society.

Off my soapbox now.
 
Prancy said:
That's bizarre! What mom says that school teachers are jealous over your teen son, because the girls are crazy over him? That's odd, IMO.
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Dayam right it's odd, Prancy!

(Ewwwww)
 
Nymeria said:
*Pulled this over from prior thread*

Are you thinking that they specifically may have chosen an apartment instead of a house because if you are planning to pull off a murder (and think you are going to get away with it) you want to do it in a place that you can evacuate from quickly?
If that had bought that "house with a yard for the kids" they would be stuck in a place that 1) possibly retain evidence, 2) just be plain creepy to stay in or 3) Hold them back from leaving the country (Back to VI, which I assume is where they would be now if they had not been caught).

'Cause that is what I am thinking :steamed:
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ooooh....good point. I didn't know what to think about it, just the way she said it was set off alarm bells. It all seemed very temporary to me. Why did they go there in the first place? I think Amanda said b/c of Gentle's surgery or something, but of course she was probably lying. But now I get it......omg.

I think you hit the nail on the head, that they were planning on "escaping" to the VI. Or perhaps some other Caribbean country, which didn't have connection to the US (couldn't force them to return to the US if US gov't asked??). Maybe this is what their whole plan was.

Yes, very creepy.

But why would they pick an apartment up high? Unless they had the cooler idea from the very beginning, thinking no one would expect them to have disposed of a body from up there...omg. Maybe they planned it that way. No chance of security cameras catching them with a body, etc.. No one would suspect anything about carrying some coolers down, if they weren't suspected of the murder. If there was "no murder," just a missing person.
 
So, the voice mail that was left by Grant to his mother was on July 13, 2011, the day of the killing. Their alibi plan was already in play that day, so saying just he, Amanda and Lily would be moving to Kinston seems very deliberate to coincide with that alibi. It fits with their plan to say Laura never showed up to pick up the boys that day at the gas station. I wouldn't be fooled by it. Praying the jury won't be fooled by it.

A lot of devious and careful planning (in their minds) attempting to pull off the perfect crime. I don't believe they ever planned to give up those boys - they were both controlling power freaks and were trying to cover their tracks. They were in a frenzy by July 13th, incensed by the Calloway evaluation report, they were being evicted and they were absolutely broke. They were in their own little bubble of fury and were determined to get rid of Laura as their solution.

Because, after all, they blamed Laura for all they were going through to get custody. A custody fight they started with that ex-parte motion and "took possession" of baby Gentle right out of Laura's hands.
 
Nymeria said:
Her good friend and business partner reported her missing.
She was the first person to testify on day 1.
Here is the link if you would like to watch-

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/13332671/

ETA- If not for this woman, I think these 2 may have gotten away with this. Or at least gotten FAR away before it was discovered.
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Thank you Nymeria so much. I just finished watching it and it helped me understand what Laura was like. I guess I need to catch up tonight.
 
MissSallyAnnie said:
So, the voice mail that was left by Grant to his mother was on July 13, 2011, the day of the killing. Their alibi plan was already in play that day, so saying just he, Amanda and Lily would be moving to Kinston seems very deliberate to coincide with that alibi. It fits with their plan to say Laura never showed up to pick up the boys that day at the gas station. I wouldn't be fooled by it. Praying the jury won't be fooled by it.

A lot of devious and careful planning (in their minds) attempting to pull off the perfect crime. I don't believe they ever planned to give up those boys - they were both controlling power freaks and were trying to cover their tracks. They were in a frenzy by July 13th, incensed by the Calloway evaluation report, they were being evicted and they were absolutely broke. They were in their own little bubble of fury and were determined to get rid of Laura as their solution.

Because, after all, they blamed Laura for all they were going through to get custody. A custody fight they started with that ex-parte motion and "took possession" of baby Gentle right out of Laura's hands.
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Boz should say this word for word! Spot on!!!
 
Well, I am SO glad those two women got to testify today.

I said before that I knew Amanda knew Laura was dead, but I wasn't sure if Grant didn't tell her he disposed of the body and then use the hutch to hide it from Amanda that he was taking it with them to Texas. Reasonable doubt is a real thing with me, but these two witnesses blew that out of the water.

GH obviously manipulated AH to hate Laura. It's pretty hard to hate someone you've never even met without someone giving you a reason. And we have Laura's own words as to how Grant was to her. So to think Grant was some good guy until he met the evil Amanda would make Laura out to be a liar. AH grew to love Grant and the boys and hate Laura and I think that hate consumed her until both her and Grant wanted to erase Laura.

I don't believe that the apartment they got was part of a murder plot. I don't really see the sense in that theory. I think they were getting evicted and at the same time the court was planning to rule against them - neither of which I think AH and GH ever thought was a possibility when they moved to NC. The game had changed.

Think about this....they got custody originally by saying that Laura didn't have a job or money or stable home (she was living on Grant's parents property.) Now, they were going to go to court again and Laura had a good job and a stable place to live - and now THEY were the ones with no jobs, money or a stable home, being forced to move in with Grant's parents!! They had to know Laura's attorney wasn't going to let that fact slip by the judge. They just weren't going to let Laura beat them. They blamed HER for their situation and all their poor decisions.
 
The cross exam of Patsy Hayes was revealing. RG herself time stamped Grant's voice mail at 3:45PM, July 13, 2011. I believe they were in the stages of planning Laura's murder, and he was trying to shore up that alibi that it would only be he, Amanda, and Lily and not the boys moving to Kinston. Oh, you clever little devil Grant, so sneaky! RG also confirmed that Patsy made that bank deposit in Kinston the day after the murder - oops, there goes that charade of a theory that Grant took Laura's body and cut her up in one of the rentals.

And the cross exam by Rosemary Godwin, with her insinuations that Patsy Hayes only came to court today to assure that she could raise Lily as her own daughter! You mad, Amanda? Is someone trying to steal your baby, right out of your arms? I wonder how that feels...

Amanda's writing is so phony, her psychosis so deep. Who in the world would carry on about the beautiful view from a jail cell? I believe she's a sociopath, so her writing is dripping with sugar, as she thinks it should be, but it comes off as phony to me.

After a few words about how beautiful all the children are, she then goes onto the clothing she would like for court (Enough about them, let's talk about my needs :-) She even enclosed pictures and directs Patsy to the stores where they can be purchased. "White or off-White", and a "Baby pink blouse", just in case she gets warm and will need to remove her jacket. "Baby pink", I might have said light pink. But the word "baby" just fits right in with her baby talk. Yes, Amanda has had a lot of rehearsal time.

So much psychosis, so little time. Attention Patsy Hayes: Run directly to court on Monday and file that ex-parte motion for custody of Lily! The jury will get the case on Monday, so you only have a small window, should Amanda be acquitted. That way, this whole bizarre story will come full circle. 360 degrees. "Now ain't that funny"...

Just my own observations.
 
geevee said:
IIRC they originally were going to be tried together but Judge Stephens ended up giving them separate trials, seems like it was during one of the last pretrial hearings before GH's trial. I think wral has those archived as well.
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That's right, geevee - I saw the hearing about scheduling the (one) trial, which had to be 9, 10 months ago at least -- all was well. AH had Rosemary Godwin as her attorney and GH had just gotten a new one (his 3rd maybe by then). AH asked through her atty if it would be possible for the trials to be separate. Judge Stephens said if either party wanted a separate trial, he would grant it if there were some reason to do so.
 
Wake prosecutors refute Amanda Hayes' testimony

Posted 10:03 a.m. today - 2/14/14
Updated 7:23 p.m. today - 2/14/14

WRAL - Raleigh, NC


Snipped:

Seeking to win a conviction in Amanda Hayes' first-degree murder trial, Wake County prosecutors called two final witnesses Friday to refute Hayes' own testimony that she had no idea that Ackerson had died and only helped in the cover-up because she was scared of Grant Hayes.

But jurors heard evidence to the contrary Friday after the defense rested its case – having called only three witnesses, including their client.

Snipped:

Barakat, however, said Amanda Hayes told her that she was in the room when Ackerson died.

"This was when Grant was over the body and looked up and told her that Laura was dead," Barakat said. "I asked her how that made her feel, and she said it didn't make her feel anything. She felt nothing."

Snipped:

Further trying to counter Amanda Hayes' claim that she feared her husband, Raleigh homicide Detective Jerry Faulk testified that the couple appeared to act like newlyweds when they were initially taken into custody.

"They were all lovey-dovey, if you will," Faulk said. "Walking down the hallway, Amanda was walking behind Grant and rubbing his shoulders."

The state also presented last-minute evidence –letters to Grant Hayes' mother – that also appeared to contradict Amanda Hayes' claims that she feared her husband because he threatened to kill or harm her and their children.

Read more and view video (report by Amanda Lamb - WRAL reporter):

http://www.wral.com/wake-prosecutors-refute-amanda-hayes-testimony/13395370/
 
Irish_Eyes said:
Well, I am SO glad those two women got to testify today.

I said before that I knew Amanda knew Laura was dead, but I wasn't sure if Grant didn't tell her he disposed of the body and then use the hutch to hide it from Amanda that he was taking it with them to Texas. Reasonable doubt is a real thing with me, but these two witnesses blew that out of the water.

GH obviously manipulated AH to hate Laura. It's pretty hard to hate someone you've never even met without someone giving you a reason. And we have Laura's own words as to how Grant was to her. So to think Grant was some good guy until he met the evil Amanda would make Laura out to be a liar. AH grew to love Grant and the boys and hate Laura and I think that hate consumed her until both her and Grant wanted to erase Laura.

I don't believe that the apartment they got was part of a murder plot. I don't really see the sense in that theory. I think they were getting evicted and at the same time the court was planning to rule against them - neither of which I think AH and GH ever thought was a possibility when they moved to NC. The game had changed.

Think about this....they got custody originally by saying that Laura didn't have a job or money or stable home (she was living on Grant's parents property.) Now, they were going to go to court again and Laura had a good job and a stable place to live - and now THEY were the ones with no jobs, money or a stable home, being forced to move in with Grant's parents!! They had to know Laura's attorney wasn't going to let that fact slip by the judge. They just weren't going to let Laura beat them. They blamed HER for their situation and all their poor decisions.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head! A woman with the life experience that Amanda had at the time, you'd think she'd take a moment to reflect on Grant's feelings about Laura. No, she just got as angry as he was!

The fact that they were in the exact position at the end that Laura found herself in, is amazing. And they started the whole thing with the ex-parte order and blamed Laura for their defeat.

The fortune that Amanda went through and just gave to Grant, despite knowing nothing ever came from it, is downright shocking to me. Amanda was definitely invested in the outcome of the custody case, she flushed her whole life down the drain. And she left nothing for Sha, what a selfish woman!

Oh, to be in St. John right now, money in the bank, sipping an cool drink, wouldn't that be nice? Sometimes your life is better without a man, some women never learn to be just happy with themselves in life. Amanda had it made and she threw it all away for that scrawny little dirtbag.
 
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