State v. Wolfe

• Decision Date: 31 May 2011
• Docket Number: No. SD 27953.,SD 27953.
• Citation: 344 S.W.3d 822
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff–Respondent,v.Danny Ray WOLFE, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

344 S.W.3d 822

STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff–Respondent,

v.Danny Ray WOLFE, Defendant–Appellant.

No. SD 27953.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Division One.

May 31, 2011.Application for Transfer

Denied June 22, 2011.

Application for Transfer

Denied Aug. 30, 2011.

Gary E. Brotherton, Columbia, MO, for Appellant.Chris Koster, Atty. Gen., Terrence M. Messonnier, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.JEFFREY W. BATES, Presiding Judge.

Following a jury trial, Danny Wolfe (Defendant) was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, and one count of first-degree robbery for robbing and killing Leonard and Lena Walters (referred to individually by their first names and collectively as the Walters). See §§ 565.020, 571.015, 569.020.¹ Defendant was sentenced to serve three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole and 100 years of imprisonment. On appeal, Defendant presents seven points of error. Finding no merit in any of his points, we affirm.

We view the evidence and inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the verdict. State v. Schleiermacher, 924 S.W.2d 269, 272 (Mo. banc 1996); State v. Williams, 329 S.W.3d 700, 701 (Mo.App.2010). All contrary evidence and inferences are disregarded. State v. Mack, 301 S.W.3d 90, 93 (Mo.App.2010). Viewed from that perspective, the following evidence was adduced at trial.

The Walters, who were married, lived in Greenview, Missouri. In September 1996, they bought a 1990 Cadillac. They parked their older red Cadillac in their front yard with a “for sale” sign in the window. Most mornings, Leonard would go to the Crossroads Coffee Shop. He typically carried as much as $1,000 in cash in his wallet. He would often “flash” his money or discuss it in public, where anyone could see the currency or overhear him talking.

In February 1997, Gregory Addington (Addington) managed a business called Slick's Ozark Bar (Slick's). Defendant was a regular customer. Around the middle of February, Defendant offered to sell Addington a .25 caliber pistol. Addington declined to purchase the weapon. At that time, Defendant had a job painting some of the buildings at the Port Velero condominiums in Camdenton, Missouri. On the afternoon of February 19th, Defendant stopped by the apartment of Christopher Young (Young). Micheal Cauthron, a friend of Young, also was at the apartment. Defendant wanted Young's help on some painting jobs. They agreed to meet the next morning at a cigarette shop they would be painting. Before leaving, Defendant left a briefcase in Young's laundry room. Defendant said he was going out on a date and needed to make room in his pickup truck. Out of curiosity, Cauthron looked inside the bag and saw a wig with black, grey and white hair.

Jessica Cox (Cox) was part of a four-person team that played pool in a league. There were games every Wednesday at different bars. After the competition was over, some of the team members would stay at the bar hosting the competition that evening or return to Slick's, the bar that sponsored Cox's team, for drinks. February 19, 1997, was a Wednesday. That evening, Cox's team was competing at a bar in Eldon, Missouri. After the competition concluded, the team returned to Slick's. Cox's teammates, including her fiance, left before midnight. Cox let her fiancé know that she could get a ride home from somebody. Shortly thereafter, Cox went across the street to the Rock Island bar. While Cox was there, Defendant sat down on an adjoining bar stool and introduced himself. Defendant told Cox that “he would love to have a line[,]” which meant “a drug line of cocaine or meth.” Defendant then told Cox that he could “front” her some drugs to sell for him. ² Cox said she thought she would be able to sell the drugs and make Defendant some money. Defendant told Cox that she would need to go with him to his place to pick up the drugs. Defendant was staying in Room 305 of the Williamsburg Inn. When last call was announced at 1:00 a.m., Cox left the bar with Defendant and rode in his truck to his hotel room. They arrived there around 1:35 a.m. on Thursday morning.

They remained in Defendant's room 15 to 20 minutes and then left to go to Young's apartment in Camdenton. Defendant went to the door and picked up the bag he had left there earlier. Defendant and Cox then returned to Defendant's hotel room. Once there, Defendant removed some handcuffs from the bag. He also changed into a camouflage jacket and some silky nylon “parachute” pants.

At around 4:30 a.m., Defendant and Cox left the hotel. They stopped at a gas station, and Defendant gave Cox some money. He told her to buy sodas and a pair of jersey gloves. They drove to Greenview, where Defendant pointed to the Walters' house and said, “[t]hat's the house we're going to.” He drove past the house and parked on a gravel area adjacent to the roadway. It was around 5:00 a.m.

While parked, Defendant said he knew the Walters had a lot of money. They were expecting Defendant early that morning to test-drive the red Cadillac. Defendant said he planned to rob the Walters. While Cox was with Leonard test-driving the car, Defendant intended to rob Lena. Defendant put on some jersey gloves, pulled some handcuffs out of his pocket and began rubbing them to remove any fingerprints. He gave another pair of jersey gloves to Cox and said she should wear them.

About 6:00 a.m., Defendant and Cox drove to the Walters' house. There were three vehicles parked near the house, facing the roadway. The red Cadillac was parked about 100 feet from Highway 7. Defendant parked his pickup truck behind the Cadillac. He went to the house, and Lena answered the door. She was joined by Leonard, who walked with Defendant to the Cadillac. Defendant told Cox to join them at the car.

Leonard invited Cox to take the car for a test drive. She asked Leonard to accompany her so he could explain the car's features and any problems with it. Cox got into the driver's seat, and Leonard sat in the front passenger seat. Defendant got into the back seat. Cox then described what happened during the test drive:

As we're turning around and got back up on 7 highway and headed back to the Walters', probably a quarter of the way back, I heard a loud bang in the vehicle and I looked over and I saw, I heard [Leonard] take his last breath and tilt his head down, and at that moment I saw something coming from the back of his head, and like, and like I can't see exactly what it was but I could see the end that stuck out of the hand. It looked like a barrel of a gun.

As Cox was driving back to the Walters' home, Defendant checked Leonard's pockets. Defendant located Leonard's wallet, which was full of cash, and said, “this guy is loaded.”

When they got back to the Walters' residence, Defendant told Cox to park the Cadillac and to get back into Defendant's vehicle. Defendant went inside the Walters' home without knocking. He was gone for seven or eight minutes. Cox heard a loud “commotion” that sounded like somebody had knocked heavy boxes on the floor, followed by a shot and more noises from the house. Defendant exited the house carrying a safe. He placed the safe, which was heavy and approximately two feet square, in the bed of his truck.

Defendant drove his truck onto Highway 7 and headed toward Greenview. When he reached Greenview, he turned onto EE Highway. He stopped the truck on the side of the road in a wooded area with a hill to the left and a slope to the right. Defendant carried the safe and a toolbox down the slope and into the woods on the right side of the truck. Cox saw Defendant using tools to open the safe. Once Defendant got the safe open, he started taking out papers and looking through them. After examining the items, he threw some onto the ground beside him. Defendant kept other items and stuffed them in his pockets. Defendant returned to the truck, leaving behind the safe.

Defendant then drove to the Port Velero condominiums. He said he had to check out a job and dispose of a gun. Defendant stopped at one location to check on the job, but he did not have a key. He and Cox drove to the condominium where the complex's custodian lived. Defendant asked for the key to the storage shed so he could get some material out of it for a job. The custodian observed that Defendant was wearing silky nylon pants made of a parachute-like material. Defendant and Cox drove back to the first location. Defendant got out of his truck and was gone for five to ten minutes. When Defendant returned, he was wearing white painter's pants and a sweatshirt. As he got into the truck, he told Cox that she had nothing to worry about now because he had thrown the gun into the lake. Around 8:00 a.m., Defendant and Cox arrived at a shopping center on Highway 5 near Camdenton. Defendant picked up some paint at a store. Cox then asked Defendant to drop her off at the Osage Beach Hospital. Cox intended to tell people that she had been kidnapped and escaped. Defendant drove Cox to the hospital and gave her $540 in cash. Defendant warned Cox that he would kill her, her relatives and everybody she knew if she told anyone what had happened. After being dropped off, Cox contacted some of her friends. She told them that she had been kidnapped and had reported the incident to police.

That same morning, Young had gone to the parking lot of the cigarette shop where he had arranged to meet Defendant. Young arrived between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. He waited an hour and then left because Defendant did not show up.

Some time after Addington had the conversation with Defendant about selling the .25 caliber gun, Defendant returned to Slick's with some coins that he wanted to exchange for bills. The coins, all quarters, “were in some sort of bags.” Defendant exchanged $25 in quarters for bills.

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