By David in TN
friday, april 21, 2023 at 11:44:00 p.m. edt
I’m going to write something longer on saturday. Somebody at the websleuth forum said the prosecution has done some re-direct examination. We don’t have Jamie Satterfield covering this trial.
McCraney’s wife testified friday afternoon. She said her wonderful husband came home clean with no blood or mud on him. Incidentally, she put him at the big little store which the girls were abducted from.
McCraney supposedly got in their car, had sex with J.B. Beasley, then “gave them directions to Highway 231 heading toward Dothan.” Well, why didn’t Tracie and J.B. drive back to their homes in Dothan?
The autopsies revealed Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley had no drugs or alcohol in their bodies. Had any drugs or alcohol been in them, the defense would never shut up about it.
"the big little store which the girls were abducted from."
ReplyDeleteOr was that just the last place they were seen?
"McCraney supposedly got in their car, had sex with J.B. Beasley"
That story makes zero sense and no reasonable juror is going to be swayed by it. The question is whether the jurors are reasonable or not.
"Had any drugs or alcohol been in them, the defense would never shut up about it."
Maybe. Because that would make the story about consensual sex with the defendant more believable?
Recall seeing that a wallet and purse were in the car. So apparently not a robbery. Then what was the motive for killing them? To get rid of witnesses to the abduction and rape?
Don't see how this trial can take more than a few days.
She committed her first crime of the day AFTER they had her raise her hand to "swear to tell the truth"--and she answered "Yes".
ReplyDeleteGive her 5 years for that answer.
--GRA
Source WTVY TV Dothan, AL
ReplyDelete"The harshest blow to suspected killer Coley McCraney's defense may have come from his wife, who on Friday placed him at the location where the two teens that police say he killed were last seen."
"Jeanette McCraney testified that her husbamd's car broke down at an Ozark convenience store where victim Tracie Hawlett called her mother about 11:30 on July 31, 1999."
She promised that she and her classmate JB Beasley would be home soon after they became lost while searching for a party in Dale County."
"While proclaiming her husband's innocence, Jeanette McCraney testified that he had left home about 10 o'clock that night and didn't return until near one o'clock the following morning."
"Retired state agent Barry Tucker testified earlier Friday that the girls' killer drove them from the unknown shooting scene to Herring Avenue, a seldom traveled and narrow road near Dale Medical Center."
"McCraney lived about a half mile from that location."
"However, Tucker, like other investigators, testified that the he could not place McCraney at the crime scene and his wife said his clothes were clean when he arrived home, though the victims' clothes were partially covered in mud."
David In TN: Of course they couldn't place McCraney at the scene. The police didn't have his DNA yet. And what do you expect Mrs. McCraney to say?
"Not until 20 years later was McCraney's DNA available after he voluntarily provided a sample to then-Ozark Police Chief Marlos Walker who had received preliminary analysis that indicated an unknown relative of McCraney could be the killer."
"Jeannette McCraney said she went to the police department with her husband and urged him to provide the requested DNA in hopes it would help solve the crime."
"Police arrested McCraney several weeks later when forensics experts said that his semen was found on Ms Beasley, who he is accused of raping."
"But McCramey's attorney, David Harrison, claims their encounter was consensual and occured soon after he and the teens met near that store where Jeannette McCraney testified her husband left his vehicle that she claims the couple retrieved after he returned home."
"Attorney General Steve Marshall, the lead prosecutor, ordered Ms McCraney to testify."
David In TN: I think witnesses are "called" rather than "ordered." The local media has been picking away at the State's case throughout.
On Monday, the defense put on its case (wtvy.com/2023/04/24/follow-day-4-mccraney-trial-here/). The defendant took the stand.
ReplyDeleteNSU/WEJB has said in the past that a standard defense since reconstruction for this type of crime is for the defendant to claim sex was "consensual" and part of a long-term relationship. That is what Coley McCraney's testimony amounted to.
McCraney said he met JB in JUne of 1999 at the Wiregrass Commons Mall. He testified that he walked up to her and introduced himself and they struck up a conversation.
McCraney kept calling JB "Jennifer.' the name on her birth certificate was "JB" and she NEVER called herself or was called by anybody anything else but JB.
McCraney claimed she called him the day of the murder and said she would be in Ozark. McCraney said his truck conked out around 11:45 pm and he coasted into the Big Little store. By chance JB and Tracie Hawlett just happened to show up there.
McCraney said he and "Jennifer" proceeded to have sex in his truck while Tracie waited patiently. He claimed to have shown them a shortcut back to Dothan. They dropped him off at his house and drove away.
The defense then called a man who delivered newspapers who claimed to have seen a "cop car" with the Mazda the victims were driving. He admitted to a head injury shortly before which had caused serious injury.
McCraney, in his police interview had denied knowing the girls.
Tomorrow(Wednesday) will see closing arguments.