GUILTY GA - Lita Sullivan, 35, dies in contract killing, Atlanta, 16 Jan 1987

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  • #21
BillyGoatGruff said:
I saw Belinda's testimony--or some of it. She looks pretty good 19 years after the fact. makes me wonder how old she was at the time. 19? 20?

The lawyer's testimony was more intriging, because it proved than she was talking about the situation and that others knew what was going on. She just didn't come forward and make it up out of whole cloth decades later.
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She was an excellent witness. I think this guy is going to be convicted.
 
  • #22
Girlfriend of hired killer defends her story in millionaire's murder trial

ATLANTA — In her second day on the witness stand in millionaire James Sullivan's capital murder trial, a law office receptionist defended herself from accusations that she wrongly implicated the 65-year-old defendant 11 years after his wife's shooting.

Belinda Trahan testified Monday that she is certain Sullivan is the man who handed her ex-boyfriend an envelope of cash for killing the millionaire's estranged wife, Lita, on Jan. 16, 1987.

On Friday, Trahan identified Sullivan as the man she saw when Harwood brought her to a roadside restaurant to collect the $25,000 payout. But lawyers for the 65-year-old defendant suggested the witness's memory has been shaped by the extensive media coverage that has kept Sullivan in the forefront of the investigation for nearly 20 years.

More: http://www.courttv.com/trials/sullivan/030606_ctv.html
 
  • #23
The hit man testified today. I don't think he did anything to hurt Belinda's testimony. Even if the jury believes she was more involved than she claims, the bottomline is that the hitman looks like the suspect sketch and he admits that he was hired to kill/take care of the victim by the defendant. I still think the is going to be found guilty.
 
  • #24
  • #25
  • #26
BillyGoatGruff said:
That was quick. And lame.
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No kidding. This guy is going to be convicted. It always amazes me when they think all they have to do is argue against the state's case. It never works. Almost everyone who is acquitted puts up a lot of defense proof that shoots down the state's proof. Just pointing fingers and saying the state doesn't have a case is worse than naive. I don't care what the constitution says.
 
  • #27
prosecution will sandwich closing. have just completed first part. i thought the pros. was excellent in going through all the evidence. defense will start shortly.

jean casares (sp) from CTV said all BUT ONE juror kept eye contact during the prosecution closing. :waitasec: hope that does not mean there will be a hold-out during deliberations.
 
  • #28
defense is doing very well in closing ( :mad: ). the juror who would not look at the prosecutor during his closing is looking at the defense attorney during his closing and also jean c. with CTV says the jury is taking more notes during this defense closing.
 
  • #29
izzyB said:
defense is doing very well in closing ( :mad: ). the juror who would not look at the prosecutor during his closing is looking at the defense attorney during his closing and also jean c. with CTV says the jury is taking more notes during this defense closing.
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Ooh, sounds like a hung jury coming to me. Not good. Maybe some of them will be able to focus on the bottomline evidence ..... the phone calls between the obvious shooter and Sullivan. I'd convict him but I am not on the jury.
 
  • #30
The defense won't be able to get over the telephone records and Sullivan's own behavior just before and after the shooting, no matter how hard they try.
 
  • #31
BillyGoatGruff said:
The defense won't be able to get over the telephone records and Sullivan's own behavior just before and after the shooting, no matter how hard they try.
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I hope you are right. Maybe that juror smiling at the defense is just nice and likes the defense atty. Doesn't have to mean she is sympathic to the defendant.

I think that black prosecutor is excellent with detail. He brought it all back to the bottomline evidence. I have just learned not to second guess juries. Never know what they are going to do.
 
  • #32
i was in tears as the prosecutor ended is summation. heart-wrenching. and i noticed that lita's dad had left the courtroom. although the mother remained and stoically wiped away tears as clint rucker counted for the jury the years, days, minutes and seconds since the murder.

i agree completely about the phone records and other evidence that does not depend on the testimony of tony or belinda. it is enough to prove sullivan is guilty and i am hoping the jury is back today with that verdict.
 
  • #33
  • #34
well, justice was FINALLY served in this case!! the prosecutors did a wonderful job in laying out their case and the phone records were solid evidence.
 
  • #35
izzyB said:
well, justice was FINALLY served in this case!! the prosecutors did a wonderful job in laying out their case and the phone records were solid evidence.
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The TH's were asking why he was so emotionless as the verdict was read.It has become so apparent to us that sociopaths don't respond in a normal fashion.
 
  • #36
concernedperson said:
The TH's were asking why he was so emotionless as the verdict was read.It has become so apparent to us that sociopaths don't respond in a normal fashion.
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Maybe he just wasn't surprised.
 
  • #37
Whatever the penalty, it's effectively a death sentence for him.

I felt relief for Lita's family. Now, after nearly 20 years, they can finally heave a sigh knowing that it's effectively all over.
 
  • #38
BillyGoatGruff said:
Whatever the penalty, it's effectively a death sentence for him.

I felt relief for Lita's family. Now, after nearly 20 years, they can finally heave a sigh knowing that it's effectively all over.
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Guys like him are disgusting. He deserves whatever he gets. Just think. If he would have confessed years ago and copped a plea, he might be getting out about now to start a new life. Let him rot in prison. He has had his freedom all these years to do world travels, etc. Time to pay the piper.
 
  • #39
ATLANTA -- A millionaire and one-time fugitive has been convicted in Atlanta of murder for hiring a hit man to kill his socialite wife 19 years ago.



Prosecutors said James Sullivan was afraid he'd lose money and a Florida mansion in a divorce, so he paid a trucker $25,000 to kill his wife.



Lita Sullivan was shot to death on the doorstep of her Atlanta townhouse by a man carrying a dozen long-stemmed pink roses. The murder was on the same day a hearing was scheduled to discuss property distribution in the divorce.



Prosecutors want the death penalty. But a defense attorney said he will appeal the verdict.



James Sullivan fled the country around the time he was indicted on state murder charges in 1998. The Boston native was captured in Thailand in 2002 and extradited to the U.S. in 2004.
http://www.ksat.com/news/7908519/detail.html
...............
:clap: Justice for Lita
 
  • #40
BillyGoatGruff said:
I didn't realize there was another thread on this.
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I wasn't thinking when I posted that other thread. I should have titled it differently with Lita's name in the title. :doh:

Thank goodness there is justice for her now! That's all that matters! :blowkiss:
 
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