6/4 TV- Parent murder trial update-COURT-TV
Firefly192
PARENT MURDER TRIAL
Updated June 3, 1999
Robertson convicted of murdering his parents for inheritance and could face
death penalty
YORK, S.C. (Court TV) — James Robertson appeared to have it all. But now he has
nothing except a conviction for murdering his parents for their $2 million
fortune and possible death sentence.
Once characterized as a math genius, Robertson attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta
and seemed on his way way to earning an engineering degree. His father, Earl,
was an executive at a textiles firm called Springs Industries, and Jimmy, as he
was known, was the heir to his parents' $2.2 million fortune.
But in 1997, something went horribly wrong with Robertson and his parents.
Jimmy was expelled from college for missing too many classes, prompting his
father to cut him off financially. Robertson was forced to take odd jobs at
different restaurants in South Carolina.
Upset about the sudden turn his life had taken, Robertson allegedly began
talking casually to his friends about killing his parents — and according to
prosecutors, kill them he did.
On November 25, 1997, Terry and Earl Robertson were discovered bludgeoned to
death inside their own home.
Debbie Brisson became worried when her co-worker Terry did not show up for a
meeting that morning. Thinking that Terry had overslept, Brisson went into the
house. She was on her way to the master bedroom when she tripped over Earl's
prone body on the second floor of the house.
Detectives and evidence technicians found blood spatter on the walls, floors,
doors, and ceilings. Earl was found lying face down wearing nothing but his
underwear. He had been clubbed repeatedly, and his flesh bore impressions left
by the baseball bat used to attack him. Investigators determined that injuries
to Earl's head were made by the claw end of a hammer. The head injuries were so
traumatic Earl's brain had spilled out of his skull and pooled around his head.
Terry was found lying next to her bed. Her skull was fractured by blows
inflicted by the sharp end of a claw hammer. Terry had been slashed and stabbed
repeatedly on her face, arms, neck, and back. One slash wound went from her
wrist to her elbow, and was so deep it exposed her bone. The attack was so
violent that the knife blade broke off during the attack.
Police first began suspecting Jimmy Robertson when they traced a car parked
just outside the Robertson house to Douglas Moon, the father of Robertson's
girlfriend.
Douglas Moon told police that his daughter Meredith told him she used the car
that morning to take her best friend Erin Savage, who had allegedly cut her
finger, to the hospital.
However, Savage revealed that, in fact, Meredith Moon was accompanying
Robertson to Philadelphia to pick up his younger brother Chip and had arranged
for Savage to cover for her. York County investigators notified Philadelphia
police, where they set up surveillance at Chip's apartment and arrested both
Robertson and Moon the next day.
Under police questioning for two days, Moon initially said she was in the car
while Robertson murdered his parents. Eventually, she told police what she knew
about the murders and led investigators to the murder weapons.
Moon was originally charged as Robertson's co-defendant with two counts of
murder, armed robbery, and credit card fraud. However, in exchange for her
testimony, she pleaded guilty to two counts of accessory to murder after the
fact, and armed robbery. Moon was sentenced to the 20 years in prison and will
be eligible for parole in seven-and-a-half years. She could have received a
maximum 60 years in prison
Because of the brutality of the murders and because evidence suggests that
Robertson plotted against his parents, prosecutors are seeking the death
penalty.
During the guilt-phase of Robertson's trial, his defense seemed non-existent:
Robertson's lawyers said they would try to make prosecutors prove their case
beyond reasonable doubt. Now the defense will focus on saving Robertson from
the death penalty during the penalty phase of the trial.
Robertson's lawyers will argue that he and his mother suffered from bipolar
disease, or what used to be known as manic depression, and that Robertson's
frontal lobes — the parts of the brain that control impulses — were abnormal.
The defense may also argue that, at the time of the murder, Robertson's abuse
of Ritalin triggered a psychotic episode.
At the time of James Robertson's trial, his younger brother, "Chip" or Earl
Robertson Jr., was not indicted in connection with his parents' murder.
Testimony in the guilt phase revealed that James called his brother before he
called Meredith on the day of the murders. Just what Chip knew and when he knew
it remains a mystery. But there are suggestions that Chip also wanted his
parents dead, and may even have actively conspired with James to kill them.
At this time Chip is in jail awaiting prosecution on drug charges. South
Carolina investigators are continuing their investigation and have not ruled
out charging him as an accessory after the fact of murder in his parents death.
— Bryan Robinson
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--Steph