The HEINZE and TOLER Children (2009)/ Convicted: Guy Heinze Jr. - Glynn County GA

8 beaten to death 4 years ago in Glynn County mobile home died where they lay sleeping, prosecutor says in murder trial
Defendant Guy Heinze Jr.had victims' blood on him, prosecutor John B. Johnson tells jury

Posted: October 15, 2013 - 3:54pm  
Updated: October 15, 2013 - 5:06pm

By Terry Dickson

BRUNSWICK | Most of the eight people beaten to death Aug. 29, 2009, in a mobile home north of Brunswick died in bed and other places where they had lain sleeping some without moving, prosecutor John B. Johnson told jurors Tuesday in Guy Heinze Jr.’s death penalty murder trial.

Johnson warned the jury of 10 women and six men, some of whom are alternates, that they would see photos of a very bloody scene in which walls, headboards, floors and other areas of the trailer’s interior were splattered with blood from the savage beatings.

He told them how Guy Heinze Sr. had died where he lay on a pallet on the living room floor, how Russell Toler Sr., who rented the trailer for himself and nine others, lay in the doorway of a master bedroom and how Joseph West, the boyfriend of Toler’s daughter, Chrissy, lay dead face down, also on a pallet on the floor. Johnson mentioned only one defensive wound, 15-year-old Michelle Toler’s broken hand.

The butt of a shotgun lay beside Russell Toler Sr.’s head, but the barrel was missing and has never been found, Johnson said.

Rusty Toler Jr., who was lying dead under a table, had been stabbed several times, but those wounds came after he was beaten to death, Johnson said.

Johnson also noted that when Heinze yelled to a neighbor about 8 a.m. that morning that his family had been beaten to death, he alone knew how his father and eight others had died, Johnson said.

Police officers who went into the mobile home at New Hope Mobile Home Park at first thought the victims had been shot, Johnson told the jurors.

Heinze told officers he checked the victims for life by placing his fingers on their wrists, Johnson said.

“One of the things we’re going to see is there was an awful lot of blood in this house,’’ Johnson said.

In spite of that, Heinze had no blood on his hands, Johnson said.

He also told police that he had walked throughout the house, but the blood of only two victims, that of his father and Joseph West, was on the sandals he wore, Johnson said.

Also, Heinze said he had sat down or lay down on the bed beside Michael Toler, 19, who was still alive. He had none of Michael Toler’s blood on those shorts although the bed was covered with blood from what had been a savage beating.

Also, police found Michell Toler’s cell phone in the car Heinze was driving: It had the blood of Joseph West who was beaten to death in the same room as Michell, Johnson said.

Johnson asserted that whoever killed the victims had to know where everyone was located in the house, but he also raised the possibility that Heinze didn’t act alone by saying he was at least “a party’’ to the killings.

He also noted that an aggressive dog tied at the doorway of the trailer also must have known who came into the house because none of the neighbors heard it bark and it was still there when police arrived.

President Judge Stephen Scarlett administered the oath to the jury, read the indictment telling them that Heinze was charged with murder in the deaths of all eight by “blunt force trauma’’ to their heads and aggravated assault for beating Byron Jimerson Jr, the only survivor who was 3 at the time, with the intent to murder him.

Before the jury entered the courtroom, defense lawyer Newell Hamilton Jr. patted Heinze on the back and sat down beside him.

Scarlett recessed court for 15 mintues about 3:30 p.m. Hamilton will give his opening statement when court resumes.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2013-10-15/story/8-beaten-death-4-years-ago-glynn-county-mobile-home-died-where-they#ixzz2hzyHRMN7

Live Blog: Guy Heinze Jr.'s death penalty trial:

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2013-10-17/story/live-blog-judge-allows-rare-supplemental-opening-statement-three-days

Georgia man, 26, convicted of beating 8 people to death in cramped mobile home following argument over bottle of pills
Guy Heinze Jr., 26, was found guilty of killing 8 people, including his father, in a 2009 incident in a trailer. While he was spared a death sentence, Heinze faces life in prison.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, October 26, 2013, 3:54 PM

BRUNSWICK, Ga.  — Defense attorneys insisted it would have been nearly impossible for one man to beat eight people to death inside a cramped mobile home — his father and seven others whom he loved like family, no less — without someone getting away.

But prosecutors convinced a jury that Guy Heinze Jr., 26, of Brunswick, killed all eight victims after an argument over a bottle of prescription pills.

Heinze was convicted of murder on Friday, though he was spared a death sentence in a deal attorneys made to avoid a hung jury.

"We knew the biggest challenge we were going to have was to convince them one person did this," said Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering, whose officers investigated the slayings. Doering said four years later he's still convinced Heinze killed the victims by himself.

Lead defense attorney Newell Hamilton Jr. said Saturday that he believes the jury overlooked holes and shortcomings in a police investigation that focused early on Heinze because he was "an easy and convenient target." He said he's concerned those responsible could still be at large.

"At the end of the day, I think the citizens of Glynn County needed for someone to answer for the murders," Hamilton said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. "They needed to feel safe."

Heinze stood silently Friday while his younger brother ran cursing from the courtroom after the jury's verdict was read. The last-minute deal to withdraw the death penalty means Heinze will be sentenced to life in prison. The trial judge will decide later whether he will be eligible for parole.

"This ain't right! This ain't justice!" Heinze's younger brother, Tyler Heinze, shouted as he left the courthouse. "You know Guy can't have done this (expletive)."

Prosecutors said Heinze had been smoking crack cocaine Aug. 29, 2009, when he killed his father and the other victims. Each of the victims died from multiple crushing blows to the head from what police believe was a shotgun barrel, though the murder weapon was never found.

Although the attack happened in the middle of the night and most of the victims were found in bed, defense attorneys argued a single assailant couldn't possibly have inflicted such carnage. They insisted police ignored evidence and alternate suspects in a rush to accuse him.

During three days of deliberations, it looked like the jury could go either way in the case, or possibly find itself unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

The jury foreman reported Thursday afternoon, during the second day of deliberations, that jurors were deadlocked 9 to 3. Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett asked them to keep trying. Jurors recessed for the night after dinner with no verdict.
On Friday morning, the judge announced one of the 12 jurors had been excused and would be replaced with one of three alternates who had also sat through the full week of testimony in the case. They came back with a verdict within four hours. After it was read, Scarlett informed the jury that the death penalty had been taken off the table and therefore their service was done.

Prosecutor John B. Johnson told reporters dropping the death penalty had been necessary to get Heinze's defense team to agree to let the judge dismiss a particular juror because of "a situation" that contributed to the deadlock. He said neither side wanted a mistrial, which would have meant trying Heinze all over again with a new jury within a few months.

"It was done to get a verdict. That was the biggest hang-up both sides had," he said.

Johnson declined to say which juror was dismissed or why. The jury had been sequestered at a hotel, with no access to TVs, computers or cellphones and under constant watch by deputies, since the trial began Oct. 15. During the trial last week, Deputy Rocky Mortoriet reported to the judge that one juror had been talking about the case against the judge's orders. Mortoriet said he overheard the juror say while escorting him to the gym: "There is no way I can convict this gentleman."

Four years ago, Heinze told police he found the victims' bodies after returning from a late night away from home. During the frantic 911 call, Heinze cried: "My whole family is dead!" Six days later, investigators charged him with murder.

The dead included Heinze's father, Guy Heinze Sr., 45. Rusty Toler Sr., 44, was slain along with his four children: Chrissy Toler, 22; Russell D. Toler Jr., 20; Michael Toler, 19; and Michelle Toler, 15. Also killed was the elder Toler's sister, Brenda Gail Falagan, 49, and Joseph L. West, the 30-year-old boyfriend of Chrissy Toler. Her 3-year-old son, Byron Jimerson Jr., ended up the sole survivor but suffered severe head injuries.

Heinze told police his father went to live with the elder Toler's family when they were both teenagers. The suspect said he considered Rusty Toler Sr. to be his uncle, and the man's children were his cousins.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-found-guilty-killing-8-mobile-home-article-1.1497552#ixzz2j4QyxlOY

Heinze to seek new trial

10/29/2013
By MICHAEL HALL The Brunswick News

The defense lawyer for Guy Heinze Jr., convicted Friday in the mass murders of eight people, said Monday he expects to seek a new trial within a month after Heinze is sentenced.

"I respect the jury's verdict, but I don't agree with it," said Newell Hamilton of the Office of the Georgia Capital Defenders.

Heinze was found guilty on eight counts of murder and one of attempted murder, in addition to several lesser drug-related charges, after a nearly two-week jury trial in Glynn County Superior Court.

He was convicted of killing his father, Guy Heinze Sr., 46, his father's friend, Russell Toler Sr., 44, and Toler's children - Michael Toler, 19, Chrissy Toler, 22, Russell Toler Jr., 20, and Michelle Toler, 15 - Aug. 29, 2009, in a trailer he shared with them at New Hope Plantation mobile home park. He was also convicted of killing family friends Brenda Falagan, 48, and Joseph West, 30, and of attempting to kill Chrissy Toler's then-preschool son, Byron Jimmerson, all of whom also lived in the single-wide trailer.

Read more: http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/open_access/local_news/HEINZE-FOLO-102813-hr-KK-jh#