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

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Boodles said:
Forget Manhattan to Raleigh. She was gonna end up in KINSTON! She made sure that was not going to be her fate (unless she gets sent to a prison there!)

And I hated the way she spoke about her deceased mother..the smirking snide comment about everyone getting "stuck" with her. What a biatch. And even if her mother was an evil monster, who speaks that way about their mother when they're facing a murder charge and trying to woo the jury?
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:floorlaugh::floorlaugh: Kinston sounds like a Mayberry sort of town to me, but then again, I'm not a big artist and actress from NYC (I'm thinking Green Acres here, Amanda playing the Eva Gabor role)

I was particularly struck by her mean comments, too. I wouldn't have been "wooed" by that comment.

By the way, not sure of the rules about posting a link, but maybe you could tell me if this is ok: I found the obituary of Amanda's mother. The short description of her life is very telling, and Amanda is the mirror image of her mother. I can't even remember how I tracked it down, and I don't want to take the time to go back to square one here to see if it's been posted.
 
geevee said:
Laura thought she and Grant were married but he never signed the marriage certificate, I don't recall when Laura became aware of that little fraud he perpetrated on her but one of her friends testified about it.

Something has been bothering me, when Amanda testifed and said Lily had a 'poopy' diaper and she came out of the bedroom to get a fresh diaper, it just didn't seem like she was saying she had brought Lily with her, she said she stopped behind Grant and picked up the paper that Laura slid across the table to him and read it, then suddenly Lily is in Amanda's arms because Laura starts talking about how pretty she is. Does anyone else get the feeling that maybe Lily was not in her arms when she came out of the bedroom and the rap about Laura getting up because she wants to hold Lily and trips on the carpet is a bunch-a-bull? That maybe Amanda came out of the room and 'hurt her, hurt her bad'?
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I think you are right about that. I think they had all the children locked in a bedroom, especially because they didn't want the boys to see Laura. I believe they lured her into that apartment and were both ready to murder her. I think Amanda was the captain of that murdering ship and Grant was the deck hand.
 
aa9511 said:
What? Is it going to be deliberations starting Monday??
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I think that Monday is closing arguments and charge to the jury. Each party has two hours to summarize their case.
 
SurfieTX said:
Amanda and Sha flew/moved to NYC New Year's Eve 2009 (of all times?). In Jan. 2010 is when Grant came. They married in Vegas in 2010, April, I think. Amanda got pregnant in Sept. 2010. Lily was born in early June (6 or 9) 2011. Laura was murdered in July 2011.
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Thanks for the clarification. In listening to her testimony, I missed the dates, and it sounded like the two years were described as one.
 
After watching Dr. Calloway's testimony again, she mentions she interviewed Grant's parents. They, too, wanted Laura obliterated, or erased as the judge forced Calloway to say. She notes they were insensitive to child attachment issues. They were absent during Grant's trial, and they don't appear at this trial until they perceive that Amanda is making Grant look bad (Lol, as if he looked good up until that point). I'm glad she flew in from Kinston to read the letters, but also find it so very odd at the same time.

When Calloway asked Grant how he made a living, he said that he was the CEO of Grant Haze Ltd., and he employed Amanda and Sha. He said he was supporting five people! Amanda stated that Grant brought in a few dollars here and there, and she had to pawn her jewelry for the custody evaluation. So, I get the impression that Amanda was no wallflower, she spoke her mind.

Amanda on the stand with the baby talk, saying she's never seen, heard or thought about the custody fight - she was just trying to get Grant and Laura to get along! She has the nerve to testify that they were upset that the custody hearing was taking so long, yet they were the ones causing the delays and trying to sabotage the evaluation. With no money, they somehow hired a new attorney and child psychologist in the middle of the evaluation.

As everyone here notices what a liar she is, hoping the jury took copious notes.
 
MissSallyAnnie said:
Excellent thoughts. I believe, too, that Amanda was very jealous of Laura. I take your point about Grant wanting control of the boys, as objects to promote. I re-watched the testimony of Calloway, and in her report she notes that Grant needs to tone down his "autocratic manner" when interacting with his boys. This seems to be something from his family background. His father must be Grant II, grandfather Grant I - named like kings. Grant discusses this in that phony interview on his YouTube channel. He was creepy even before this happened.

I also wonder if Amanda or Grant were disappointed that their baby was a girl. He really seemed to want boys, to someday grow up and travel the world with him (he says this in a You Tube Video), and they would all admire him - because he's the man!
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Amanda said that Grant was disappointed that they had a daughter because he likes sons.
 
geevee said:
Laura thought she and Grant were married but he never signed the marriage certificate, I don't recall when Laura became aware of that little fraud he perpetrated on her but one of her friends testified about it.

Something has been bothering me, when Amanda testifed and said Lily had a 'poopy' diaper and she came out of the bedroom to get a fresh diaper, it just didn't seem like she was saying she had brought Lily with her, she said she stopped behind Grant and picked up the paper that Laura slid across the table to him and read it, then suddenly Lily is in Amanda's arms because Laura starts talking about how pretty she is. Does anyone else get the feeling that maybe Lily was not in her arms when she came out of the bedroom and the rap about Laura getting up because she wants to hold Lily and trips on the carpet is a bunch-a-bull? That maybe Amanda came out of the room and 'hurt her, hurt her bad'?
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Laura threatening to take Lilly away from Amanda doesn't make sense. Tripping on the carpet near the hallway and the bleach stain by the entrance doesn't add up. Even if she did trip on the carpet, she would either stumble and be fine, or she would end up on the floor, but a standing person would simply move out of the way. Grant said in his interview that he "smacked" Laura in a head a few times after she fell to the floor. "Smacking" someone in the head after they fall is apparently supposed to be helpful, but then Laura was dead.

I guess Amanda Lamb is going to write about this case too.
 
MissSallyAnnie said:
After watching Dr. Calloway's testimony again, she mentions she interviewed Grant's parents. They, too, wanted Laura obliterated, or erased as the judge forced Calloway to say. She notes they were insensitive to child attachment issues. They were absent during Grant's trial, and they don't appear at this trial until they perceive that Amanda is making Grant look bad (Lol, as if he looked good up until that point). I'm glad she flew in from Kinston to read the letters, but also find it so very odd at the same time.

When Calloway asked Grant how he made a living, he said that he was the CEO of Grant Haze Ltd., and he employed Amanda and Sha. He said he was supporting five people! Amanda stated that Grant brought in a few dollars here and there, and she had to pawn her jewelry for the custody evaluation. So, I get the impression that Amanda was no wallflower, she spoke her mind.

Amanda on the stand with the baby talk, saying she's never seen, heard or thought about the custody fight - she was just trying to get Grant and Laura to get along! She has the nerve to testify that they were upset that the custody hearing was taking so long, yet they were the ones causing the delays and trying to sabotage the evaluation. With no money, they somehow hired a new attorney and child psychologist in the middle of the evaluation.

As everyone here notices what a liar she is, hoping the jury took copious notes.
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I thought it was incredibly nervy of AH to say she tried to stay out of the custody fight when she funded the ENTIRE thing.

And Grant's parents....just...paging Dr. Freud. To use an oldie from the Casey Anthony saga: I'm sure the Hayes family was/is a "carnival of dysfunction".
 
MissSallyAnnie said:
:floorlaugh::floorlaugh: Kinston sounds like a Mayberry sort of town to me, but then again, I'm not a big artist and actress from NYC (I'm thinking Green Acres here, Amanda playing the Eva Gabor role)

I was particularly struck by her mean comments, too. I wouldn't have been "wooed" by that comment.

By the way, not sure of the rules about posting a link, but maybe you could tell me if this is ok: I found the obituary of Amanda's mother. The short description of her life is very telling, and Amanda is the mirror image of her mother. I can't even remember how I tracked it down, and I don't want to take the time to go back to square one here to see if it's been posted.
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Sleuthing family members isn't allowed, but I would think that posting an obituary is okay.
 
Now that the Michael Dunn trial is behind us.....I was able to study the Grant Hayes jail interviews today. I also reviewed Sha's testimony in both trials paying attention to her comments about GH. To me, Grant is emerging as a lazy, pathological liar with low self-esteem. He's a big talker; all talk, no action. He preys upon women for ego-inflation. While some people fall for his style, I suspect most view him as a jerk.

For me Grant is a fool and I have been asking myself, "Whatever did Amanda and Laura see in him?" So today I began looking at GH the way a needy, desperate woman might. With that in mind, I can imagine an immature Laura falling for GH.

As for Amanda, as she was aging she probably no longer attracted flamboyant wealthy men. I bet she missed the lifestyle they provided. In settling for Grant, Amanda saw a young, exciting musician with artistic potential and a following in the club scene. Amanda may also have gotten hung up in GH's party and drug landscape.

All of the above most likely has already been posted here, and I am late to the party, so to speak.

I still think the initial idea to kill Laura was Grant's. But I also think Amanda was a willing participant in the planning. I am imagining AH, door closed in the master bedroom, keeping the two boys and infant daughter occupied watching a loud video that masked the struggle and screams outside the door as Laura was murdered. I wonder how much Grant-four heard.

I think strangulation may have been's GH's first choice, but he had a knife close by and ultimately stabbing was what he resorted to. There must have been a mess of blood in that area just to the right of the dining room entrance to result in such a large bleach stain.

Well, that's as far as my thought process has taken me. Will exercise the brain some more Monday a.m. during closings.

Trial starts at 9:30 a.m. Don't be late.

:seeya:
 
Listened to Amanda's testimony again. When speaking about the estate of N Smith, she says that his children felt animosity towards her because she was able to leave Texas, and they "were stuck there".

This must be how her mind works. His children may have had valid reasons for feeling animosity towards her, but I doubt it had anything to do with her moving to NYC and they were "stuck" in Texas. Why in the world would they be stuck in Texas? Sounds like he left them at least half of his fortune.

I wonder if any jurors are from Texas?
 
MissSallyAnnie said:
Ok. I'll remove it (or it will be removed, lol) if it's improper. I hope I did this right.
http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20110612/NEWS07/706129900/-1/s
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Thanks! There was a lot of instability in Amanda's life when she was growing up. At the age of 3-4 she lived with her sister Karen. Again, in high school she lived with her sister Karen. Sha also lived with Karen at some point. It looks like Amanda's mother had three marriages and three divorces. We know that towards the end of her mom's life (in her sixties), Amanda moved her mom to Texas, then moved her into a smaller house so she could sell the house she inherited, then she got fed up with Texas and asked a sister to look after her mom, then she sold all the property she had in Texas and her mom returned to New Mexico. I think that her family must have thought that she was providing for their mom, but the reality is that Amanda needed someone to live in the property and pay the bills while she was away. As soon as she wanted to sell the property, she put her mom on the street. That's most likely why she was not mentioned in the Will.

Amanda sure went through a lot of money in a short period of time - living the high life while it lasted. There were properties, companies, sections of land and a life insurance police. She could have been set for life if she had lived within her means and used some common sense.

I hope that Sha is okay in the long run.


I misunderstood about the husbands.

Husband 1: high school; 17-18.
Husband 2: Lawyer; 22-26 (lasted one year, friends for four)
Husband 3: Irrigation Company; 32? (large inheritance)
Husband 4: Grant the Murderer; 38? (convicted criminals)

Can we fill in the years? I wonder if she had any contact with the children from the Irrigation Company marriage after the diving accident. She had a few tears when she mentioned him, but I suspect that she was crying for herself.
 
otto said:
Thanks! There was a lot of instability in Amanda's life when she was growing up. At the age of 3-4 she lived with her sister Karen. Again, in high school she lived with her sister Karen. Sha also lived with Karen at some point. It looks like Amanda's mother had three marriages and three divorces. We know that towards the end of her mom's life (in her sixties), Amanda moved her mom to Texas, then moved her into a smaller house so she could sell the house she inherited, then she got fed up with Texas and asked a sister to look after her mom, then she sold all the property she had in Texas and her mom returned to New Mexico. I think that her family must have thought that she was providing for their mom, but the reality is that Amanda needed someone to live in the property and pay the bills while she was away. As soon as she wanted to sell the property, she put her mom on the street. That's most likely why she was not mentioned in the Will.

Amanda sure went through a lot of money in a short period of time - living the high life while it lasted. There were properties, companies, sections of land and a life insurance police. She could have been set for life if she had lived within her means and used some common sense.

I hope that Sha is okay in the long run.


I misunderstood about the husbands.

Husband 1: high school; 17-18.
Husband 2: Lawyer; 22-26 (lasted one year, friends for four)
Husband 3: Irrigation Company; 32? (large inheritance)
Husband 4: Grant the Murderer; 38? (convicted criminals)

Can we fill in the years? I wonder if she had any contact with the children from the Irrigation Company marriage after the diving accident. She had a few tears when she mentioned him, but I suspect that she was crying for herself.
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A lot of instability in Amanda's childhood and Grant's. In testimony, it sounded as if Amanda skipped over her father, just stating that her mother was "single", until her mother married her stepfather. So besides the marriages, there could have been additional relationships. You've broken down the years pretty well here.

Amanda testified that when she spoke with her brother regarding their mother's death, he was shocked that she had no money. And she was angry while in jail when she didn't receive something from her mother's estate; maybe she wanted her family to pawn the jewelry she gave her mother and send her the money.

Amanda seemed to have inherited the pattern of moving Sha around to different relatives, too. Hopefully, she can break that pattern if she recognizes it. In my opinion, Amanda used Sha to her advantage as well. I can't relate, as a mother, to leaving my young child for such long periods of time, while pursuing my dreams. I just couldn't do it. Sha seemed much more mature than Amanda.

The husbands listed sound right to me. Perhaps she had some relationships after she became a rich widow. I wonder really how long would she have stayed married to NS, had he lived. I wonder if he was her true love, or just a convenient attraction for the money.

Her whole testimony was matter of fact. She described the trip to Texas as just your average vacation. I think the only reason they were stressed out on the way back to NC was because they knew the police were onto them. Sha had called, told them about being picked up by the police. The Raleigh police department were hot on their trail and they knew it. It wasn't going to go as smoothly as the planned.
 
Boodles said:
First, you're right about AH not getting pregnant until fall 2010. She was not pregnant with Lily when she left the VI.

AH told some very flagrant lies. She screwed up. The jurors were studying her very intently, and taking notes, watching her constantly. They are very engaged.

I was thinking today that if AH had admitted the truth about being an accessory after the fact, it may have served her better. Because I don't see how the jury could ever believe that she did not know that Laura was dead. But because she lied about that, and was caught in several other big lies, I hope they will see that since she lied about the accessory charge, she's lying about it all.

If she had said "yes I helped after GH killed Laura," but proceeded with the "not being involved in the murder" lies she told on the stand, she might have gained more credibility and she might have done just a short sentence for accessory. But she had to go for the gold, so to speak, pleading not guilty to everything. I hope it bites her in the azz.

I think the murder was premeditated but intended to be done earlier that day, somehow, but then Laura was late. I do believe Berakat, that AH said "it wasn't supposed to happen like that." I also believe that AH is the one who killed Laura, and that the murder was her idea, but that it happened not the way they originally planned.

I think AH told the truth for quite a bit of her testimony. It's when she throws in "so, anyway"...(blink blink blink) that she lies, and also when she looks down to the left when she's pulling from her fictitious version. But it seems she throws in a lot of true details, too.

And I'm saying again: the FBI lady was wrong IMO because Laura did not write that note, not under duress, not at all. It's forged, specifically traced from words from the prior hand written legal order John Sergeant referred to in his testimony. It looks obviously forged to me due to its odd spacing between words and phrases and Sergeant's name is even spelled wrong. Becky has also alluded to this, IMO, but they had to call that FBI witness so as not to appear to be hiding evidence. JMO. AH and GH came up with the plan to feed Laura to the gators and have the police believe that she ran off with $25K by having that bogus agreement handy in their apartment. Yeah, right, $25K. "Well, duh."
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I totally agree that the FBI was wrong. LA would never have signed this agreement. It was meant to provide an explanation for Laura disappearing as GH thought his plan for getting rid of LA was infallible. He totally believed that her body would never be found & that he could explain her disappearance with this signed agreement that Laura gave up her kids for money. He thought no one would ever realize that he had no way to pay her $25000. I believe GH is evil, evil, evil. I think his mom's comment about teacher jealousy was very revealing about how she sees her son. IMO, she enabled his thinking that nothing was ever his fault. He blamed LA for the situation he found himself in. I believe AH told many lies on the stand but I believe her opinion of LA came from what GH told her about LA. He was really her only source of information about LA & he convinced her that LA was a bad mom & that her only motivation was money ( which is interesting because I don't believe he was paying child support & had no money for LA to try to get!) I think the "agreement" proves premeditation on GH's part. It us difficult to believe that AH didn't know about the agreement ahead of time as, it would gave required time to get it written, but just not sure how jury sees it. Hope the closing for the PT is very strong & ties it all together. Hoping for justice for LA.
 
Odd that Amanda gave Grant $50,000 to establish Grant Haze Ltd. All that money went poof, and not a penny in return. Absolutely nothing accomplished.

However, once on her feet, Laura worked and accomplished so much in that one year, so impressive. She and Chavon had the menu business going well, and she was starting her own graphic design business. That poor girl worked her hind end off, so extremely sad how this ended for her. All she wanted were her own babies.

I'm bothered that these two murdering fiends get to see pictures of those precious little children, whose lives are going to be so scarred at what Grant and Amanda did to Laura.
 
SurfieTX said:
Also, too, Amanda testified that her old boyfriend was stalking her and scaring her, and she made a decision to get herself and Sha out of that situation pronto-stat. This wasn't her first assumed rodeo of being around a controlling/obsessed freak.

Closing arguments are going to be crucial here, IMO. Paint the big picture about Amanda and do not dwell on tiny details.
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Yep, the big inconsistencies in her story; her luv for GH throughout; her opportunities to flee and/or contact LE but didn't; her knowing about the crime before, during & after it occurred; all she did to help....

And -- accessory after the fact to 1st murder is thus, according to the NC General Statutes:

§ 14-7. Accessories after the fact; trial and punishment. If any person shall become an accessory after the fact to any felony, whether the same be a felony at common law or by virtue of any statute made, or to be made, such person shall be guilty of a crime, and may be indicted and convicted together with the principal felon, or after the conviction of the principal felon, or may be indicted and convicted for such crime whether the principal felon shall or shall not have been previously convicted, or shall or shall not be amenable to justice. Unless a different classification is expressly stated, that person shall be punished for an offense that is two classes lower than the felony the principal felon committed, except that an accessory after the fact to a Class A or Class B1 felony is a Class C felony, an accessory after the fact to a Class B2 felony is a Class D felony, an accessory after the fact to a Class H felony is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and an accessory after the fact to a Class I felony is a Class 2 misdemeanor. The offense of such person may be inquired of, tried, determined and punished by any court which shall have jurisdiction of the principal felon, in the same manner as if the act, by reason whereof such person shall have become an accessory, had been committed at the same place as the principal felony, although such act may have been committed without the limits of the State; and in case the principal felony shall have been committed within the body of any county, and the act by reason whereof any person shall have become accessory shall have been committed within the body of any other county, the offense of such person guilty of a felony as aforesaid may be inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in either of said counties: Provided, that no person who shall be once duly tried for such felony shall be again indicted or tried for the same offense. (1797, c. 485, s. 1, P.R.; 1852, c. 58; R.C., c. 34, s. 54; Code, s. 978; Rev., s. 3289; C.S., s. 4177; 1979, c. 760, s. 5; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 47; 1981, c. 63, s. 1; c. 179, s. 14; 1997-443, s. 19.25(p).)




rbm



http://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_14/gs_14-7.html

A Class C felony is no big deal, as was said earlier. LA has no existing record, ergo no felony points. Even if she is found by the Judge to be Aggravated, the Statutes state that punishment would be 73--92 months as I read the Sentencing Guidelines.

Now accessory before the fact is a different breed of dog:

§ 14-5.2. Accessory before fact punishable as principal felon. All distinctions between accessories before the fact and principals to the commission of a felony are abolished. Every person who heretofore would have been guilty as an accessory before the fact to any felony shall be guilty and punishable as a principal to that felony. However, if a person who heretofore would have been guilty and punishable as an accessory before the fact is convicted of a capital felony, and the jury finds that his conviction was based solely on the uncorroborated testimony of one or more principals, coconspirators, or accessories to the crime, he shall be guilty of a Class B2 felony. (1981, c. 686, s. 1; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 22, s. 6.)




http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-5.2.html


rbm

i.e., bummer for the lady's Life.
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