GUILTY NC - Laura Ackerson, 27, Kinston, 13 July 2011 #2

[NCEast]

Young is clearly a word that I've dropped from my vocabulary Although my oral surgery went very well for an old lady.
Here is a link to a personal blog entry about this case. I didn't read any more of her entries yet, but it's another personal opinion about this case.... although she may very well be one of us on here.
Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving.

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2012/11/grant-ruffin-hayes-aka-grant-haze-and.html

Hi, East :seeya:-- As the Stones said, "What a drag it is getting old..." Same here my Sleuthy Friend! It was Jason YOUNG, bless your heart.

bbm --> Interesting point, East -- I hadn't yet given their defense a thought, but you're right -- WTH will it be? He's way to pompous to plead insanity. Will they claim that she came storming in their apt. with a knife and made demands? That she held a child at knife-point and they fought with her and, "Somehow she was stabbed in the chest and bled all over and died. She came in like a crazy woman. The kids were all crying. It was just horrible. I knew this would happen one day... And we panicked. We had to get her out of there so the children wouldn't see it. We had no choice. It was self-defense. Her against the two of us. Poor us."

Yes, I'm ready, too. I want to see these two meanies put away. I don't like 'em.

I just hope that the next defense attorney won't ask for more time, but I think it's likely, and it will probably be granted... Grrrr:banghead:

 

[borndem]

Young is clearly a word that I've dropped from my vocabulary Although my oral surgery went very well for an old lady.
Here is a link to a personal blog entry about this case. I didn't read any more of her entries yet, but it's another personal opinion about this case.... although she may very well be one of us on here.
Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving.

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2012/11/grant-ruffin-hayes-aka-grant-haze-and.html

East, thanks for the blog link -- it's a good encapsulation of the situation -- it would be especially good for those new to this crime who want a 10-minute (to read, not to write) synopsis of what we know so far. I don't think the tigress is a fan of Hayes, either.

He doesn't seem to be too popular in these here parts...

 

[AnonymousD]

Tentative trial date set for May 20, 2013

From the wording of the article, it sounds as if Grant & Amanda will be tried together.

http://www.wral.com/murder-trial-date-set-in-kinston-mom-s-death/11903715/

 

[NCEast]

This just in on the WRAL noon internet news today, Feb. 4, 2013. I am so ready for this case to go to trial. There appears to be so much evidence against them I have no idea what their defense will be.

Wake prosecutor: Kinston woman's death was domestic violence
Laura Ackerson


WRAL.com archive: Laura Ackerson homicide


Raleigh, N.C. — Wake County prosecutors getting ready to try a Raleigh man and his wife in the 2011 murder of a Kinston woman say the crime was a case of domestic violence.

Grant Ruffin Hayes, 33, and Amanda Perry Hayes, 40, are both charged with first-degree murder in the July 2011 death of Grant Hayes' ex-girlfriend and the mother of two of his children, Laura Jean Ackerson.


<modsnip>

Reporter: Amanda Lamb
Web Editor: Kelly Gardner

http://www.wral.com/wake-prosecutor-kinston-woman-s-death-was-domestic-violence/12063079/

 

[AnonymousD]

Just wanted to ad the link to the story NCEast posted above:

http://www.wral.com/wake-prosecutor-kinston-woman-s-death-was-domestic-violence/12063079/

 

[AnonymousD]

http://www.kinston.com/news/local/n...-in-ackerson-murder-prosecution-1.89867?tc=cr

This article also talks about the hearing, but makes it sound as if the prosecution "let it slip" that the murder was domestic violence. I don't understand how this could be earth shattering news?

Defense requested a continuance to continue looking into whether a trial with both of them together would be best.

New hearing date set for March 1.

 

[gregjrichards]

Tentative trial date set for May 20, 2013

From the wording of the article, it sounds as if Grant & Amanda will be tried together.

http://www.wral.com/murder-trial-date-set-in-kinston-mom-s-death/11903715/

Thanks for the update I think trying them together is a big mistake the jury will be bombarded with tons of info and may become confused as to exactly who did what.

Any updates will be appreciated this is one of the most horrific cases I have ever encountered.

 

[AnonymousD]

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Ackerson-Murder-Hearing-Today-194159621.html

The Kinston Free Press says there is a hearing slated for today that will determine if Hayes' will be tried at the same time.

 

[NCEast]

Friday, Mar. 3, 2013 WTVD News

Judge may make decision in Ackerson murder case today about trying the Hayes/Haze couple together or separately:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9011918

 

[NCEast]

Decision to try together has been made by Judge Donald Stephens. Trial date is May 21, 2013.
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Suspects-In-Kinston-Mothers-Murder-Back-In-Court-194194431.html
Friday, 3/1/13 10:27am

 

[NCEast]

I watched, twice, the video from this mornings short court proceeding and couldn't help but notice that Grant Hayes/Haze barely glanced at Amanda who was sitting at the same table. I am really thinking that if they were going to be tried separately she would sing more openly and honestly against him; however, at this point who knows.....she may have been the one who used the meat cleaver and chain saw. I cannot wait for this trial to begin. I need to lose 10 pounds right now because I know I'll gain it when this finally goes to court as I will not move an inch until it's over.

 

[AnonymousD]

Here's the video of the proceedings if anyone would like to watch. I watched it after NCEast's post. Quite interesting. I see Amanda glance more at Grant. And wow, Amanda looks different without her hair colored.

http://www.wral.com/news/video/12169344/#/vid12169344

 

[Ann-Tx]

I followed the Laura Jean Ackerson case as it unfolded in Texas in July, 2011.

If anyone here is from the greater Houston area, you may recall the extensive coverage that all mainstream Houston media gave the Laura Jean Ackerson case.

After North Carolina law enforcement/authorities came to Texas and the investigation was complete in Texas, I noticed the North Carolina media did not report extensively as Texas media did.

I am familiar with the area where the search for Laura Jean Ackerson's dismembered body parts took place. Some of her dismembered body parts were found in Oyster Creek in Fort Bend County, TX which is southwest of Houston, TX.

The Houston media spent days in the area bringing us "live" updates from the scene at Oyster Creek. It was commendable that law enforcement divers spent days in the hot, humid weather of TX trying to find Laura Jean's body parts in the murky waters of Oyster Creek. Visibility was virtually zero! It was amazing how they sectioned off areas in Oyster Creek and slowly moved along trying to find the body parts.

I have been following this case closely.

This trial is scheduled for 5/20/13 in Raleigh, NC. Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens is the presiding judge.

If you recall, he was the presiding judge in the Jason Young trial. WRAL - Raleigh, NC did an exceptional job of streaming and archiving the Jason Young trial.

I hope WRAL will stream the Grant and Amanda Hayes trial. It would be great if WRAL would archive each day's proceedings like they did during the Jason Young trial!

In that regard, this morning I sent an e-mail to Angie Basiouny, Web Editor with WRAL - Raleigh, NC, and inquired if WRAL plans to "Live" stream the Grant and Amanda Hayes trial which is scheduled for 5-20-13.

I received a prompt reply:

xxxxxx (my real name),

Snipped:

If we are allowed to have a camera in the courtroom, we will livestream the trial. I cannot guarantee that we will cover every day of it, but we'll at least be there for the opening.

Angie

 

[Ann-Tx]

Posted: 11:07 a.m. Friday, March 1, 2013
Updated: 11:10 a.m. Friday, March 1, 2013

WRAL - Raleigh, NC

Raleigh couple will be tried together in murder case

Raleigh, N.C. — A Wake County Superior Court judge on Friday granted the state’s request to try a Raleigh married couple together in the 2011 murder of the husband’s ex-girlfriend.

Grant Ruffin Hayes, 33, and Amanda Perry Hayes, 40, are both charged with first-degree murder in the death of Laura Jean Ackerson, who was the mother of Grant’s two children.

The Kinston woman’s remains were found July 24, 2011, in a creek in Richmond, Texas – about 60 miles south of Houston – where Amanda Hayes' sister lives.

Snipped:

The trial is set for May 20.

Read more:

http://www.wral.com/raleigh-couple-will-be-tried-together-in-murder-case/12169878/

 

[Ann-Tx]

NCEast, I assume you are from North Carolina. If you live near the Raleigh, NC area, do you plan to attend the trial?

During the trial . . . I wished I lived in the Raleigh area. I would attend the trial.

Maybe some folks who live in the Raleigh area will attend. It is great when one attends a trial and shares info with us.

The media does not and can not cover everything. They rarely report about the atmosphere in the court room.

 

[NCEast]

I'm about an hour east of Raleigh but would love to spend a few days in that courtroom. And I may. We do have folks on here who attend court when they can and it's wonderful to get their first person reports.
I can't bear these defendants and hope they turn on each other in front of our eyes. I honestly thought she would have turned on him way before now because of their baby, if nothing else. This Hayes/Haze fellow is so self absorbed with his ego that I hope and pray he testifies so the ADA can shoot him down in every way.

 

[borndem]

Here's the video of the proceedings if anyone would like to watch. I watched it after NCEast's post. Quite interesting. I see Amanda glance more at Grant. And wow, Amanda looks different without her hair colored.

http://www.wral.com/news/video/12169344/#/vid12169344

Thanks, Anon, for the link. I see GH still has that arrogant smirk on his face. It seems we WS'ers are surrounded by smirkers: GH; Mario McNeill, the accused rapist and murderer of a 5y/o; and Jodi Arias, admitted murder of Travis Alexander. Ack!

Somehow, to me, Amanda looks better.

 

[borndem]

I'm about an hour east of Raleigh but would love to spend a few days in that courtroom. And I may. We do have folks on here who attend court when they can and it's wonderful to get their first person reports.
I can't bear these defendants and hope they turn on each other in front of our eyes. I honestly thought she would have turned on him way before now because of their baby, if nothing else. This Hayes/Haze fellow is so self absorbed with his ego that I hope and pray he testifies so the ADA can shoot him down in every way.

bbm
Oh, 'East, I hope so too. And if he does, that alone will show the world how smart he really is!

But I'm not betting on it -- if it starts looking very badly for him, he just might...

I don't have a feel for Amanda, other than she did marry him.

Maybe the time in the county jail has made her further separate herself from him and look at him in a different way. OTOH, she may have been the one who insisted on the whole murder/chop/ride/hide thing. We WILL find out!! But I would love to see her spit in his face in a metaphorical way -- tell it, sistah!

And Wake County trial watchers -- it's great to see Boz heading up the prosecution on this one. He's quick, sharp, very smart, and he's been around the block a couple of times on murder 1st cases, so I'm very pleased to see him in first chair.

I'm gonna see what I can find out about the defensive team -- If I heard correctly GH's atty is "Cutler," and AH's atty is, maybe, "Cowan"?? I didn't hear the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Stephens say it very loudly.

Yes, trial fans, the Hayes have The Biggie presiding. The ranking and senior judge in the county. He doesn't mess around and commands a lot of respect. He's seen it all, and makes very, very few mistakes -- I don't know of any, but I haven't been around the courts (strictly as a spectator of course) nearly as long as he has. He's a very fine jurist, IMO.

 

[NCEast]

There are a few interesting tidbits in this release.


Wake County judge to revisit whether to try Raleigh couple together on murder
Published: April 11, 2013 Updated 42 minutes ago

RALEIGH &#8212; A Wake County judge will reconsider whether to try a Raleigh couple together on accusations that they murdered a Kinston woman whose body parts were pulled from a Texas creek in July 2011.
Grant Ruffin Hayes, 33, and Amanda Perry Hayes, 40, a couple who never married, are charged with murdering Laura Jean Ackerson, the mother of Grant Hayes&#8217; children who had been living in Kinston before her death.
Wake County lawyers and prosecutors spent much of Thursday reviewing the status of pending homicide cases in Wake County.
Rosemary Godwin, a Chapel Hill lawyer representing Amanda Hayes, has put in a request to allow her client to sit at a separate defense table from Grant Hayes when the trial begins in late May.
In a court document offering few details, Godwin contends that Grant Hayes sent an intimidating letter from the Wake County jail after his arrest in which he threatened to kill Amanda Hayes.
Godwin also provided a glimpse of the defense she plans to use, saying her client has an alibi for the time of Ackerson&#8217;s death, but was coerced into helping dispose of the body.
Grant Hayes &#8211; a musician who also goes by the last name Haze &#8211; was involved in an acrimonious custody battle with Ackerson, the mother of his two sons, in Lenoir County shortly before July 24, 2011. That&#8217;s when authorities in Richmond, Texas, found remains in a creek near the home of Amanda Hayes&#8217; sister.
Investigators have contended that at least one of the Hayeses killed Ackerson and hacked her body into pieces. They say the remains were placed in several large coolers and loaded into a rented U-Haul trailer that the couple then towed more than 1,250 miles to the home of Amanda Hayes&#8217; sister near Houston, where they were dumped in a creek about 100 yards from the house.
In March, defense attorneys for the Hayeses did not object to a joint trial. But they reserved the possibility that at some later date they might ask for the cases to be separated.
Judge Don Stephens plans to hold a hearing on April 22 after the concerns raised in Superior Court on Thursday.

 

[NCEast]

More this afternoon from WRAL news on the Haze/Hayes upcoming trial.

Suspect cites coercion by husband in Kinston woman's killing

WRAL.com archive: Laura Ackerson homicide
Raleigh, N.C. &#8212; A Wake County Superior Court judge expressed concern Thursday about trying a married Raleigh couple together in their upcoming first-degree murder trial after the wife's defense attorney filed nearly three dozen pre-trial motions this week.
Grant Ruffin Hayes, 33, and Amanda Perry Hayes, 41, are charged with first-degree murder in the July 2011 death of Laura Jean Ackerson, Grant Hayes' ex-girlfriend and the mother of two of his children.
Prosecutors have not publicly spoken of a motive, saying in court only that Ackerson's death was the result of domestic violence and that there is a "tremendous amount" of evidence against Grant Hayes. Her family members, however, have said the two were in a custody battle over the children.
Many of the April 8 motions filed by Amanda Hayes' attorney, Rosemary Godwin, are routine, but some offer hints at possible defense strategies.
Godwin, asks in one motion that her client be allowed to sit at a separate table when the trial begins May 20. Godwin claims Grant Hayes threatened to kill his wife in a letter he wrote to her from the Wake County jail.
The motion does not go into further detail about the letter, but it does state that the defendants "have adversarial defenses."
Another document puts the state on notice that Godwin intends to offer evidence that Ackerson's death was an accident. It provides no other details.
Godwin says in other motions that Amanda Hayes has an alibi for the time of Ackerson's death and that she was coerced into helping dispose of the body because she was worried Grant Hayes would kill her, her daughter and his two sons. One motion alleges that Grant Hayes carried a machete with him when they disposed of the body and that Amanda Hayes was afraid he would use it as a weapon against her if she refused to cooperate.
Authorities in Richmond, Texas, about 60 miles south of Houston, found Ackerson's remains on July 24, 2011, in a creek near the home of Amanda Hayes' sister.
Medical examiners aren't sure how she died. They found injuries that suggested a sharp force injury to her neck, but there were also signs that someone tried to strangle her.
In another motion, Godwin asks for the identity of an anonymous caller to Crime Stoppers reporting that Grant Hayes had told him "that he chokes people" and "that he killed a man when he was younger but was never caught."
Judge Donald Stephens has scheduled a hearing for April 22 to revisit the matter because of the duress claims.
In February, he asked attorneys for both defendants to discuss their defense strategies and to decide whether trying the couple together would be detrimental to their clients.
He granted the state's request for the joint trial in March after defense attorneys raised no objections, but they agreed to revisit the matter if any problems were to arise.
Grant Hayes' attorney, Jeff Cutler, told WRAL News Thursday afternoon that Amanda Hayes' statements regarding his client call into serious question whether they can be tried together.