JOSHUA TYLER WYATT - 16 yo (2004) - Marion (I-40 btwn Asheville and Hickory) NC

The father of a 16-year-old murder victim called the plea arrangement
offered to his son’s killer Monday “a victory for the defense.”
Richard Wyatt addressed Judge Alan Z. Thornburg in McDowell County Superior Court before Thornburg laid down the sentence for 47-year-old Lewis Kent Welch of Hicks Chapel Circle in Marion.
“I can’t convey the horror my family has experienced for
the last six years,” Wyatt stated. “We thought that someone who shot a
boy in the head eight times and buried him in the yard would never be
allowed to walk free.”
Wyatt, on behalf of his many family members and friends
in the courtroom Monday, expressed his disapproval of the second-degree
murder plea arrangement offered to Welch by prosecutors.
“We’ve been told all along this would be a first-degree
murder case then we learned last week they were going to let him
plead to second degree,” Wyatt stated. “He could be walking the streets
again in 10 years. There are small children in our community. We’re
going to have to worry about him being out there again.”
Welch entered an Alford plea to the charge, which means he conceded there was sufficient evidence to convict him of the charge but didn’t admit guilt. Thornburg sentenced Welch to 196 to 245 months, or 16 to 20 years, in prison and gave him
credit for nearly six years spent in pretrial confinement. He was also
ordered to pay restitution of more than $5,700 to the victim’s family
for funeral expenses.
Welch was charged in October 2004, but, for five years, lawyers and doctors on both sides of the case have debated his competency.
He killed 16-year-old Joshua Tyler Wyatt in the fall of
2004. Authorities unearthed Josh’s remains from a shallow grave behind
an outhouse on Welch’s property on Oct. 1 of that year.
The teen, who lived on Arborview Drive near Welch, was reported missing on Sept. 20, 2004. Welch became a suspect when officers found a stolen bicycle at his home that had once been in Wyatt’s possession.
An autopsy revealed that the teen suffered eight gunshot wounds to the head.
Since Welch’s arrest shortly after Wyatt’s death, mental
health officials have debated his competence and his ability to assist
his attorney at trial.
It’s been a continuous cycle of examinations, treatment and court hearings for more than five years.
Some doctors have said he suffers from schizophrenia -- a
disabling brain disease that causes hallucinations and delusions – and
was not capable of standing trial. Others have testified that Welch
suffers from a schizoid personality disorder -- a pattern of detachment
from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of
emotions – which would not impede him standing trial.
In December 2009, a doctor at Dorothea Dix Pre-Trial Assessment Unit found Welch competent, and in January of this year, a mental health expert for the defense also found him capable of proceeding to trial.
On Jan. 22, based on those reports, a judge declared that Welch would stand trial for murder.
Assistant District Attorney Alex Bass said it would have been nearly impossible to convict Welch of first-degree murder for several reasons.
“We couldn’t show premeditation and deliberation or the
first-degree murder rule (when murder occurs during the commission of a
violent felony),” the prosecutor stated.
Secondly, added District Attorney Brad Greenway, there is no solid evidence to show exactly what happened in this case or a motive behind it. Welch
gave three conflicting stories, and a blood spatter expert for the
state couldn’t determine what occurred, only that Welch’s statements
weren’t consistent with the evidence, according to Bass.
Thirdly, the defense recently requested that another evaluation be performed on Welch
to determine the defendant’s mental state at the time the crime was
committed. The report from that evaluation stated that Welch’s mental
illness would have impaired his judgment at the time, said Bass.
The assistant prosecutor
added that he met with the Wyatts about a month ago and they conveyed
to him that they did not want a plea to be offered. He said he
re-examined portions of the case, as well as evidence, and spoke with
experts, who could advise no more than what he already had.
“(Welch) agreed to take the maximum sentence he could get
for second-degree murder,” Bass stated. “They could have fought us on
that.”
Defense Attorney Al Messer of Asheville made a brief statement that re-iterated his client’s long history of mental illness.
“This is a horrible situation,” he stated. “Our thoughts go out to the family.”