Gibson v. State
| Citation | 555 So.2d 784 |
| Decision Date | 21 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | 3 Div. 823,3 Div. 873 |
| Parties | Grady GIBSON and Eddie Hart v. STATE. , |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Robert F. Clark and W. Lloyd Copeland of Clark, Deen & Copeland, Mobile, for appellant Grady Gibson.
J. McGowin Williamson of Williamson & Williamson, Greenville, for appellant Eddie Hart.
Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and Joseph G.L. Marston III, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
The appellants, Grady Gibson and Eddie Hart, were jointly indicted for the murder of Dana Hart to recover the proceeds of an insurance policy on her life, a capital offense as defined by § 13A-5-40(a)(7), Code of Alabama 1975. Appellant Gibson was convicted of capital murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Appellant Hart was convicted of manslaughter, a lesser included offense, and was sentenced under the Habitual Felony Offender Act to 50 years' imprisonment.
The evidence tended to show that the appellant, Grady Gibson, met the appellant Eddie Hart in February 1984. Mr. Gibson, who was employed by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI), had been investigating Mr. Hart for suspected drug activity. Instead of ultimately making a case against Mr. Hart, Mr. Gibson persuaded Mr. Hart to act as an informant for the ABI. As a result of this association, the appellants became not only co-workers, but also good friends.
Shortly after they began working together the appellants met Dana Pouncey, the deceased, through the course of their drug investigations. Miss Pouncey was a troubled teenager who had both psychiatric problems and drug and alcohol dependencies. She and Mr. Hart immediately became romantically involved and were married in November of 1984.
Around the beginning of December of that same year, Mr. Gibson began displaying behavior around his workplace which appeared, in hindsight, quite peculiar. He became preoccupied with the concept of insurance and the manner in which proceeds were paid. He also was seen reading books on how to commit the "perfect" murder. Later in that same month, he was even overheard in a bar saying to Mr. Hart that if they were going to "knock off" the new Mrs. Hart they had better hurry up and buy some insurance on her.
On January 4, 1985, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Hart visited the office of Oscar Paul Thompson in Alexander City, Alabama, a Liberty National Life Insurance Company agent, to purchase a life insurance policy on Mrs. Hart's life. After reviewing the financial history and present status of the newlyweds, Mr. Thompson proposed a $10,000 policy. Mr. Gibson said that a $100,000 policy would provide more adequate coverage.
On January 14, 1985, after the insurance paperwork was processed, Mr. Hart took Mrs. Hart to Alexander City to discuss the insurance policy with Mr. Thompson. Mrs. Hart, oblivious to the conspiracy against her, agreed to having such a policy taken out on her life. Mr. and Mrs. Hart paid the premium on the policy and left.
One week later, Mr. Hart saw Mr. Thompson at a funeral. Mr. Thompson told Mr. Hart that Liberty National had refused to issue the policy until Mrs. Hart filled out a questionnaire concerning a gunshot wound to the chest that she had received before meeting Mr. Hart. Mr. Thompson gave the questionnaire to Mr. Hart, who in turn communicated this difficulty to Mr. Gibson on the following day.
On January 28, 1985, Mr. Gibson sent his insurance agent, William Cauthen, to Mr. Hart's trailer to discuss a policy on Mrs. Hart's life from New York Life Insurance Company. Mr. Cauthen, unaware of Mr. Hart's previous attempt to buy insurance through Liberty National, also recommended a $10,000 policy. Mr. Hart said that he preferred a $150,000 policy with double indemnity in the case of accidental death. Mr. Cauthen did not argue and allowed Mr. and Mrs. Hart to fill out the application.
On February 25, 1985, the insurance policy was issued by New York Life and was delivered to Mr. and Mrs. Hart. It should be noted that Mr. Gibson gave the Harts the initial $100 premium payment on the policy. The following day, Appellant Gibson invited other co-workers to attend a fishing trip which had been planned for the upcoming weekend.
On Thursday, February 28, 1985, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Mr. Gibson picked Mr. Hart up at Mr. Hart's trailer. Fifteen minutes later, they left for Fish River in Baldwin County. The Hart's next-door neighbor saw Mrs. Hart subsequently leave in her car at approximately 8:00 p.m. This was the last time she was seen alive.
The appellants arrived around midnight at the home of Ira Colvin in Daphne, Alabama. Mr. Colvin was a longtime friend of Mr. Gibson and owned the cabin on Fish River that Mr. Gibson and Mr. Hart were going to use for the weekend. Appellant Gibson told Mrs. Colvin that they had been to the cabin earlier that evening, but that the key that Mr. Colvin had given them did not fit. Mrs. Colvin thought it most peculiar that the key did not fit, in light of the fact that Mr. Colvin had given Appellant Gibson his personal set of keys.
A woman by the name of Rose Pogue, with whom Mr. Gibson had been having an affair, was working in a motel lounge at the Parkway Truck Stop during this time frame. The appellants spent the better part of the "fishing" weekend in question drinking at this lounge. On the morning of Friday, March 1, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Hart went to the lounge and had a cup of coffee. They appeared to Ms. Pogue to be dirty and tired. Mr. Gibson told Ms. Pogue that he had not slept all night. The next day, Gibson asked her if he could borrow $200 to have a carpet cleaned at the cabin he was staying in. She lent him the money.
Later that day, Ms. Pogue and Mr. Gibson went to a local shopping mall together. During this trip, Mr. Gibson explained to Ms. Pogue that he would be "coming into a lot of money soon" and that he was interested in going into business in Florida. He asked Ms. Pogue if she thought her brother-in-law would be interested in the business venture. Ms. Pogue replied that she did not know.
On Sunday, March 3, 1985, at approximately 4:00 p.m., the appellants returned from their fishing trip. Eight days later, on March 11, 1985, the appellants filed a missing person report with the ABI. Sheriff Sidney Thrash also handled a missing person report which Appellant Hart had filed with him several days earlier. He told Mr. Hart that if Mrs. Hart "came up in a bad way," Mr. Hart would be the first person he wanted to see. At this, Mr. Hart became nervous and left.
Later in the evening of March 11, Mrs. Hart's car was found by her aunt and Mr. Hart in the K-Mart parking lot in Montgomery, Alabama where it had been, according to the K-Mart security guard, for over a week. Police dusted the car for fingerprints and searched it for hair samples, etc., but found nothing of any value to their investigation.
On March 14, 1985, Mr. Gibson received an anonymous letter and phone call at work. The message in both instances was as follows: A search team was immediately organized upon receipt of this information.
After leaving I-65 at the Grace exit, Mr. Gibson told the search team to begin searching to the right of the exit, even though these instructions were not given by the anonymous threat. Shortly thereafter, the badly decomposed, unrecognizable remains of a human body were found. Mr. Gibson walked up to the skeleton and said
Forensic personnel viewed the body, which was not only in an extreme stage of natural decomposition, but was also almost completely destroyed by "animal and insect activity." The only way forensic personnel were able to identify the body was through the use of dental records. An autopsy was performed on the body, which revealed that the cause of death was by stabbing with a knife-like object in the neck area at the base of the skull. Defense wounds, characteristic of a fight or struggle to save one's life, were observed on the hands of the victim.
Approximately two or three months after Mrs. Hart's body was found, Richard Mobley, a friend and co-worker of Mr. Gibson, was at Mr. Gibson's home sharing dinner with Mr. Gibson and his wife, Kathy. Mr. Gibson and Mr. Mobley began discussing the rumors that were circulating around town that the appellants had killed Mrs. Hart for the insurance proceeds. Mr. Gibson blurted out
In October 1985, Mr. Hart filed a lawsuit against New York Life for $150,000. The suit was settled in March of the following year for $80,000--far less than the policy amount. Ira Colvin received approximately $12,000 of the proceeds; Claude Patton, Mr. Hart's lawyer, received approximately $14,000; Mr. Gibson received $5,000; a woman named Bobbie Nell Williams received $6,000; and Mr. Hart kept the rest. It should also be noted that Mrs. Hart's funeral bill remains unpaid to date.
In May 1986, Richard Mobley and Mr. Gibson were named as defendants in an unrelated civil suit. After a deposition was taken in that suit, Mr. Mobley gave Mr. Gibson a ride home. He explained to Mr. Gibson that since Mr. Gibson was a suspect in the murder of Mrs. Hart, he thought it would be best if they stopped socializing with each other, and, further, that Mr. Gibson should leave town. Mr. Gibson replied, He subsequently did move to California.
Towards the end of 1986, Mr. Gibson moved...
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