Snyder v. State

• Decision Date: 30 March 2001
• Citation: 893 So.2d 471
• Parties: William A. SNYDER, alias Corky Snyder v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

893 So.2d 471

William A. SNYDER, alias Corky Snyder v. STATE.

CR-99-1356.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

March 30, 2001.

Rehearing Denied May 18, 2001.

Jeb Stuart Fannin, Talladega; Mark Smith Nelson, Talladega; and Sonya M. Rudenstine, Montgomery, for appellant.

William H. Pryor, Jr., atty. gen., and George A. Martin, Jr., asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

BASCHAB, Judge.

The appellant, William A. Snyder, was convicted of three counts of capital murder for the killings of Nancy Burkhalter, Dixie Gaither, and Carey Milton Gaither. The murders were made capital because the appellant committed them during the course of a burglary. See § 13A-5-40(a)(4), Ala.Code 1975. He was also convicted of an additional count of capital murder, pursuant to § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Ala.Code 1975, because he killed Dixie Gaither and Carey Milton Gaither by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct. After a sentencing hearing, the jury recommended, by a vote of 10-2, that the appellant be sentenced to death. The trial court accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced the appellant to death. This appeal followed.

The trial court summarized the facts of the case as follows:

"The Defendant, William A. Snyder, alias Corky Snyder, was indicted, tried and convicted of the following criminal offenses:

"Count1 — Murder by the Defendant during a Burglary in the First Degree in violation of Title 13A, Chapter 5, Section 40(a)(4) of the 1975 Code of Alabama, as amended, as it relates to the victim, Nancy Burkhalter.

"Count2 — Murder by the Defendant during a Burglary in the First Degree in violation of Title 13A, Chapter 5, Section 40(a)(4) of the 1975 Code of Alabama, as amended, as it relates to the victim, Dixie Gaither.

"Count3 — Murder by the Defendant during a Burglary in the First Degree in violation of Title 13A, Chapter 5, Section 40(a)(4) of the 1975 Code of Alabama, as amended, as it relates to the victim, Carey Milton Gaither.

"Count4 — Murder by the Defendant wherein two or more persons are murdered by the Defendant pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct in violation of Title 13A, Chapter 5, Section 40(a)([10]) of the 1975 Code of Alabama, as amended.

"The victims of the crimes, as aforesaid, were Nancy Burkhalter, Dixie Gaither and Carey Milton Gaither. Dixie Gaither was the mother of Carey Milton Gaither. Nancy Burkhalter and Carey Milton Gaither had a `boyfriend/girlfriend' relationship. Nancy Burkhalter was approximately 37 years of age; Carey Milton Gaither was approximately 45 years of age; and Dixie Gaither was approximately 72 years of age. Dixie Gaither was employed at a local McDonald's restaurant as a hostess/greeter. Due to the health condition of Carey Milton Gaither, he was not able to work. Nancy Burkhalter worked at the Cheaha State Park.

"Based upon the evidence presented, this Court finds that the Defendant acted alone relative to the intentional killing of Nancy Burkhalter, Dixie Gaither, and Carey Milton Gaither. Therefore, this Court finds that there were no other participants, co-conspirators, or accomplices in the crimes.

"On the 11th day of August, 1995, the victims resided in a rural area known as Stockdale in Talladega County, Alabama. The victims resided on a farm in two separate dwellings. Carey Milton Gaither and Nancy Burkhalter resided in one dwelling in close proximity to the dwelling occupied by Dixie Gaither. Carey Milton Gaither was in failing health and was recently discharged from the hospital. Carey Milton Gaither was actually utilizing both houses during this period of time due to his declining health.

"The Defendant, William A. Snyder, alias Corky Snyder, was an acquaintance of all three victims. In fact, the Defendant performed services for Dixie Gaither, including cutting her grass in the area of her residence. Either on the date of the killings, or within one or two days prior thereto, the Defendant had been to the residence of Dixie Gaither and had cut a portion of her grass until the mower ran into the house and became inoperable. The Defendant left the residence of Dixie Gaither and later became concerned about her and returned to the residence late one evening. Defendant claims to have found the bodies of Dixie Gaither and Carey Milton Gaither and claims that two masked persons committed the crime and put the stolen merchandise in his truck. The allegations and contentions of the Defendant were rejected by the jury and this Court believes from the evidence that the Defendant committed the offenses charged in the indictment.

"Relative to the burglary of the residence of Dixie Gaither, there was evidence of a break in. Dixie Gaither and Carey Milton Gaither were brutally beaten by a blunt object on or about their head. The beating was a vicious beating and clearly caused their death. Dixie Gaither had a .38 pistol and, based on the theft of the .38 pistol, and the fact that it was later used to kill Nancy Burkhalter, it is this Court's finding that Dixie Gaither and Carey Milton Gaither were killed first and Nancy Burkhalter was subsequently killed by the Defendant with the use of the stolen .38 pistol. Nancy Burkhalter was killed at the separate residence in the bedroom by the use of the pistol.

"The bodies of Dixie Gaither, Carey Milton Gaither, and Nancy Burkhalter were not initially discovered. Dixie Gaither did not report on a timely basis to work at McDonald's. Her supervisor and the manager, David Cravens, went to the residence of Dixie Gaither as a result of his friend, Dixie Gaither, not timely reporting to work. He observed the damaged door and immediately utilized the telephone in his car to contact the Talladega Police Department. The Talladega Police Department came to the scene and discovered the bodies of Dixie Gaither and Carey Milton Gaither. Subsequent to that discovery, the Talladega Police Department investigated the other dwelling and found the body of Nancy Burkhalter.

"Numerous witnesses testified as to the identity of jewelry and other personal property of Dixie Gaither and one item of personal property of Carey Milton Gaither. A men's ring, belonging to Carey Milton Gaither, was identified in court.

"The following is some of the property identified in court that belonged to Dixie Gaither: one necklace, one chain, one bracelet, five rings, one band, purse, some personal effects in the purse, and charms. Relative to the investigation of the Defendant, the police ultimately obtained a search warrant for the dwelling of the Defendant. The police found in the dwelling of the Defendant an item of jewelry on a T.V. in the Defendant's residence that matched jewelry found from the purse of Dixie Gaither. In addition, shell casings were found behind the Defendant's house near a railroad track that were identified by an expert as having been fired in the .38 pistol that was identified as the property of Dixie Gaither. In a different location, some distance away from the house of the Defendant, the police recovered a shovel spade, the pistol that was identified as belonging to Dixie Gaither, two shoes and other evidence of the crime. The pistol, as aforesaid, was identified as Dixie Gaither's, and was shown by evidence that the projectiles that killed Nancy Burkhalter were fired from the .38 pistol. It was shown that the Defendant disposed of numerous items of evidence relating to the crime.

"The Defendant disposed of additional property of Dixie Gaither in a dumpster several miles from his residence. The purse contained numerous items of property identified as that of Dixie Gaither and there was at least one witness that identified the Defendant as having placed the purse in the dumpster. The purse contained jewelry that matched the jewelry confiscated from the Defendant's house.

"Relative to the men's ring belonging to Carey Milton Gaither and the necklace, chain, bracelet, band and five rings belonging to Dixie Gaither, all of these items were taken by the Defendant and either sold or pawned to his uncle in the State of Georgia. The Defendant later attempted to get the jewelry back from his uncle as the investigation centered around him. He attempted to get the items back and was told that they had turned the items into a police department in Georgia. He demanded that they get the items back and get rid of them.

"The Court charged the jury on the issue of flight and a person either obliterating, concealing or disposing of evidence of a crime. In this case, the Defendant clearly fled the scene of the crimes and made a concerted effort to dispose of all of the evidence of the crime in at least four to five separate locations. The Court finds that the flight and the concealment and disposing of the evidence was all from a consciousness of guilt.

"The Defendant in this case weaved a web of deception by his actions at the scene and subsequent thereto. In fact, there would be no reason for the Defendant to take the shell casings out of the .38 revolver and place them in two separate locations if he were not the person that took the life of Nancy Burkhalter. The Defendant testified that he never went to the residence where Nancy Burkhalter was located, but he was disposing of evidence of that crime before the body was discovered by the authorities. In addition, he was making statements to people that the police were trying to pin the murders on him.

"The jury heard a multitude of witnesses in this case and the Defendant's own testimony. Based upon the evidence, there is more than sufficient evidence to support the conviction of the Defendant for the murder of Nancy Burkhalter during a burglary in the first degree, the murder of Dixie Gaither during a burglary in the first degree, and the murder of Carey Milton Gaither during a burglary in the first degree. In addition, there is more than sufficient evidence to support the conviction of the Defendant for the murder of Dixie Gaither and Carey Milton Gaither pursuant to one scheme or course

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