GUILTY: Jury must now decide whether Santa Claus killer lives or dies
Repo...@home.com
Savannah
Morning News newspaper:
Friday, September 3, 1999
GUILTY: Jury must now decide whether Santa Claus killer lives or dies
By Leonora LaPeter
Savannah Morning News
MONROE -- Danny Daniels believed in the death penalty.
He would want his killer, Jerry Scott Heidler, to be put to death,
relatives
said.
A Walton County jury took the first step in that direction Thursday,
finding
Heidler guilty of shooting Daniels, his wife, Kim, and their two
children,
Jessica and Bryant, as they slept on the night of Dec. 4, 1997. Heidler
was
also found guilty of kidnapping the Daniels' three girls and sodomizing
one of
them.
The jury declined to find Heidler guilty but mentally ill, as defense
lawyers
had sought.
The death penalty immediately became an issue as the trial moved to the
penalty
phase. The jury has the option of sentencing Heidler to life in prison,
life in
prison without parole or death by electrocution, a decision that will
probably
be made today.
"This man killed four people, he's escaped from a high-tech jail
facility, and
he's already said that killing gave him a rush," said Louie Johnson,
Danny
Daniels' brother-in-law. "He probably is mentally ill, but he's not
insane and
everybody says he knows right from wrong. I don't think that should
preclude
him from getting the death penalty."
The jury spent just a half hour deliberating the 11-count indictment,
breaking
for about an hour to listen to the court tape of an Augusta psychiatrist
who
testified on Wednesday. As the verdict was read, relatives and friends
of the
Daniels family cried quietly and then more openly after the jury was led
away
during a break. Heidler kept his head down, maintaining his vigil by
staring at
the carpet in front of him.
Mary Moseley, Heidler's mother, declined to say anything after the
verdict
except that her son is innocent.
Moseley's brother, standing next to her after Thursday's verdict, knows
better.
Unlike his sister, he sat through four days of testimony and listened to
the
verdict.
"I feel sorry for the Daniels family," said Heidler's uncle, who
declined to
give his name. "He done it, agreed, but he's my nephew, and he needs
help. We
all can see that. He needs help."
Friends and relatives of the Danielses had little sympathy.
Connie Smith, Kim Daniels' sister, and others said they think if anyone
deserves the death penalty, Heidler does. Kim, 33, had been in dozens of
foster
homes since she was 5, including 17 in one year alone. Smith said she
was in 52
foster homes during her childhood.
"We lost our mother when we were little, but that didn't cause us to go
out and
murder someone," Smith said.
It has been a trial that exposed the good and bad of foster care in
Georgia,
because just about everyone connected to the case has had some
involvement in
it.
All four of Kim Daniels' biological children had been placed in foster
care for
brief periods. Kim, who had bouts with alcoholism, had reclaimed her
life,
married Danny and turned her own home into a nurturing foster home for
neglected children, social workers said.
Heidler, meanwhile, was "shoveled through foster homes" as a child. His
younger
sister, Jo Anna, had been placed in the home of Kim and Danny Daniels
for six
weeks in 1995 because of trouble in the Heidler home. That's how Heidler
met
the family.
Defense lawyers hope to capitalize on Heidler's troubled childhood as
evidence
that he should get mental help rather than the electric chair.
"This is not some master criminal trying to dream up a defense," said
Michael
Garrett, one of Heidler's defense lawyers, during his closing argument
Thursday. "This is a very sick young man."
District Attorney Richard Malone, however, said the defense was blowing
smoke.
"This man responsible for all this pain, all this devastation, all this
destruction is not someone in Jerry Heidler's past," Malone said. "He's
seated
at the end of that table. He won't look you in the eye, but he's seated
at the
end of that table."
Malone pointed out that Heidler destroyed a nine-member family and also
left
behind another victim, the town of Santa Claus, which once celebrated
heartily
around Christmastime because of its distinctive name.
"For eleven months of the year, it's just like every other town, but for
one
month it was special," Malone said. "The tenth victim is Santa Claus,
because
now when December rolls around, people think of the murders that
happened in
Santa Claus. Why? Mr. Heidler is the only one who can answer that."
Malone called five witnesses, most of them jail officials involved in
Heidler's
incarceration in Toombs County, as the penalty portion of the trial got
under
way Thursday.
Jailers told of Heidler possessing weapons, removing brass locks and
smoke
detectors, threatening other inmates and jail officials and escaping the
jail
by sawing through the bars and security screens on July 6.
Bruce LeBlanc, booking officer at the Toombs County Detention Center,
said
Heidler didn't sleep much and they often had conversations. One night,
Heidler
told him he was once a churchgoing man, but he didn't worry about souls
anymore.
"He said he was a collector of souls and he wasn't through collecting
souls,"
LeBlanc said.
Dean McManus, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said
Heidler
once called him from jail and said he had a score to settle with him. To
identify himself, Heidler said: "Nine little piggies. Four dead."
Malone told the jury there are a number of aggravating reasons why
Heidler
should get the death penalty, but his actions in jail show he poses a
threat to
others in jail and people outside the jail who must worry about him
escaping.
"Jerry Heidler will escape because he's done it already," Malone said.
"This
man is looking for a way to get out of incarceration, and he remains the
same
horrible killer he was on Dec. 4, 1997. And not only can he escape, he
will."
Defense lawyers began late Thursday painting a picture of chaos in the
Heidler
home. All of Heidler's siblings are now incarcerated but his sister,
Lisa.
Heidler also has a brother, Steve -- in prison for theft -- and a
younger
sister, Jo Anna, a juvenile.
William H. Johnston, a juvenile program manager with the Department of
Juvenile
Justice, testified that "the family may be involved, for no better word,
in
devil worship."
More testimony is expected today about Heidler's childhood, as lawyers
seek to
get him imprisoned for life rather than sentenced to death. Garrett has
defended about 17 men facing the death penalty and just one of them now
sits on
death row. He worries he's about to get his second.
Family members just want to see the week end.
"I just want justice to be served," said Brandy Claxton, Kim Daniels'
17-year-old daughter. "In a way, I just want this to be over with so my
mama
and Danny and Jessica and Bryant can rest in peace."
Legal affairs reporter Leonora LaPeter can be reached at 652-0311.
--------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 9/4/99 online edition of The
Savannah
Morning News newspaper:
Jury sends killer of Santa Claus family to electric chair
Sentence provokes emotion for the first time from Jerry Scott Heidler.
By Leonora LaPeter
Savannah Morning News
MONROE -- The jury had left.
The sentence had been read.
Jerry Scott Heidler's face was still as stone.
Only when Superior Court Judge Walter C. McMillan Jr. actually sentenced
Heidler to death for the murder of the Daniels family did Heidler break
down
for the first time and cry.
Sitting at the defense table surrounded by six guards, his hands and
legs
shackled, Heidler shook with the force of his tears. He didn't say
anything but
wiped his nose on his blue and green polo shirt and folded his hands on
his
lap.
Four death sentences, one each for Danny, 47, Kim 33, Jessica, 16, and
Bryant,
8, who Heidler shot dead in their beds in Santa Claus on Dec. 4, 1997.
Two
additional life sentences for kidnapping one of the Daniels' daughters
and
sodomizing her in a van by the Altamaha River. Another 110 years for
kidnapping
two other Daniels' daughters and subjecting one of them to witness the
molestation of her sister.
McMillan gave Heidler the maximum sentence on all charges, saying the
22-year-old Alma man did not deserve mercy when he showed no mercy on
the
Daniels family. He set Heidler's execution date for between Oct. 1 and
Oct. 8,
although the sentence will be automatically appealed to the Supreme
Court of
Georgia within 30 days.
And McMillan expressed sorrow for the tiny town of Santa Claus, which
must
celebrate Christmas and remember Heidler in the same month for years to
come.
Jurors seemed to take Friday's decision much harder than the guilty
verdict
they rendered on Thursday. They sent a note to the judge about an hour
into
their deliberations, saying they had prayed for everyone and wanted to
read a
statement when they gave their verdict.
About 45 minutes later, they emerged from the jury room, many of them
overwrought with tears as jury foreman James Burrows read the death
sentence.
"We have shared in this with you and, like you, it has changed our lives
forever," Burrows read from a sheet of paper. "Yesterday and today, we
held
hands and prayed for courage and guidance to do the right thing."
Asked after the trial about his decision, Burrows said he just couldn't
talk
about it.
"It's too soon," he said. "I'm just not ready. I don't even want to talk
to my
wife about it. It was very hard."
Friends and family of the Daniels said Friday's verdict finally gives
them the
closure they need, although they felt sorry for Heidler's family.
"It was the right thing, but I do feel sorry for his sister, because
she's
going through the same thing we are," said Connie Smith, Kim Daniels'
sister.
"It's hard to lose someone. But he did what he did for no reason, and I
feel he
needs to pay for it."
Brandy Claxton, Kim Daniels' 17-year-old daughter, worries about her
sisters
and brothers. Corey and one of the girls are with Kim Daniels' former
foster
parents. Two other girls are with Danny Daniels' sister. Gabriel, who
was 10
months old when the Daniels were killed, has been adopted out of state.
"The only thing that keeps me sane is that the day before (she was
murdered) I
saw her and said, 'I love you,' " Claxton said. "That's what keeps me
sane."
Defense lawyers had tried all morning to raise sympathy and compassion
for
Heidler, who they characterized as a mentally ill man with a troubled
childhood
who needed help rather than a death sentence.
But the testimony of Heidler's mother, sister, junior high school
teacher,
foster mother, a psychologist and several social workers did not
overcome the
gruesome crime.
Heidler's sister, Lisa Heidler Aguilar, was the last witness to testify
for the
jury.
"I don't want them to kill my brother," said the 24-year-old mother of
three,
breaking into tears on the stand.
Aguilar, who works with her husband as a migrant worker, testified that
both
her father and her stepfather had been alcoholics over the years, but
neither
had ever abused Heidler. She denied that black magic or voodoo had ever
been
practiced in her mother's household, as other witnesses have testified.
A worker from the Department of Family and Children Services testified
that
Heidler's mother, Mary Moseley, had threatened to cast spells on the
child
protective services workers who visited her home and checked up on her
children. One spoke of Moseley leaving a voodoo doll with a pin in it in
her
office a decade ago.
Heidler, who had open-heart surgery when he was 4 years old, was placed
in two
foster homes because of poor supervision by his mother, the DFACS
workers said.
He had imaginary friends, a mouse that he carried around in his hand,
said
Sylvia Boatright, Heidler's foster mother when he was 11. He called
Boatright
Grandma. She learned to love him, she said.
"All he'd ever say is 'come on lil' mouse, come on lil' mouse,' " said
Boatright, who lives in Alma. "Scotty was also afraid of the dark. He
was
afraid a knife would come through the ceiling and cut him."
Later, when he returned to his mother, he attended a school in Baxley
for
children with learning disabilities. He mutilated himself by picking at
his
skin until he bled, testified Marilyn Dryden, his teacher at the time.
One time, Heidler didn't come to school.
"So I rode over with my supervisor and we stood outside his door and
sang, 'You
are my sunshine,' and that got him up and he came out," Dryden said. "He
came
to school. He had a big smile on his face."
DFACS workers said by this time Heidler was a troubled young man in need
of
some help. He tried to commit suicide a number of times, mutilated
himself and
landed at Georgia Regional Hospital twice for mental problems -- once
when he
was 11 and another time when he was 13.
James Maish, a forensic psychologist from Augusta, testified Friday that
Heidler suffered from a severe case of borderline personality disorder.
He said
Heidler had eight of the nine symptoms, including suicide attempts,
outbursts
of uncontrolled anger and "frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined
abandonment."
About 2 percent of the population suffers from the disorder, and 10
percent
kill themselves.
His diagnosis was not different from the other three court-appointed
mental
health experts who examined Heidler. But he took it a step further,
saying
Heidler had no control over his actions because of his genetic
disposition.
"Originally, we thought that every personality disorder was from a bad
environment growing up," Maish said. "In other words, whatever was going
to
happen, you'd lose the battle by age 6."
"In either case, nurture or nature, did Scotty Heidler have any control
over
this?" asked defense lawyer Michael Garrett.
"No, he can't control that," Maish said. "It's something you're born
with."
Moseley, Heidler's mother, acknowledged her son was troubled. But she
continued
to pledge his innocence on the stand Friday.
"I raised Scotty," she said. "Scotty did not do that murder."
"Even though a jury found him guilty of it?" asked District Attorney
Richard
Malone.
Moseley shook her head.
"He loved that family. He cared for that family. My family cared for
that
family," she said. "He's not that kind of person. You've got to know him
to
know if he's capable of that."
The evidence against Heidler -- a confession, fingerprints at the scene,
DNA
evidence and witnesses -- was so strong that defense lawyers Michael
Garrett
and Kathy Palmer did not try to put up a defense.
They did try to save his life, though.
"About 350 years ago, our ancestors would know what to do about Scotty
Heidler,
they'd say 'He's possessed by the devil, let's burn him,' " Garrett
said. "It's
the supreme irony that here we are in 1999 at the end of the third
millennium,
and we have the same mentally ill person and you are asking to burn him,
literally. Have we not progressed as a civilization any farther than
that?"
Malone, however, pointed out that Heidler knew right from wrong and was
responsible for his own actions.
"What happened in that house is consummate evil," Malone said. "Jerry
Scott
Heidler had a terrible childhood, yes, but when are we going to expect
him to
take responsibility for his actions?"
Legal affairs reporter Leonora LaPeter can be reached at 652-0311.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In addition from Jason...@virgin.net
Georgia Convict Sentenced to Death
MONROE, Ga. (AP) — A 22-year-old man who said he went ``berserk'' when
he killed four members of a family was sentenced Friday to die in the
electric chair.
Jerry Scott Heidler was convicted Thursday of the 1997 shotgun massacre
of Kim and Danny Daniels and two of their nine children. The family had
once taken in Heidler while he was trying to kick a drug and alcohol
habit.
Heidler's lawyer said his client was mentally ill and deserved to be
spared, describing him as a ``very, very mixed-up, sick young man.''
But District Attorney Richard Malone told jurors Heidler ``remains the
same horrible killer that he was on Dec. 4, 1997.''
About a month and a half before his trial, Heidler broke out a
first-floor window of a county jail by sawing through a cell bar and
then an outer fence. He was found 12 hours later walking along a road in
the boxer shorts and T-shirt he had escaped in.
Heidler killed the adults and Jessica, 16, and Bryant, 8, as they slept.
He kidnapped three girls in the family and left two younger children,
including a 10-month-old, behind with the blood-soaked bodies.
Prosecutors say he sexually assaulted one of the girls.
``I just went from room to room, shooting,'' Heidler mumbled in an
interview with police videotaped the day after the killings. ``I went
berserk.''