Military Jury Finds Soldier Guilty in 1985 Triple Murder (Bragg 'Innocent Victims' Case)

[Hissyspit]

Source: WRAL-TV

Military jury finds soldier guilty in 1985 triple murder

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military jury on Thursday convicted a former Fort Bragg soldier of murdering a Fayetteville woman and two of her children 25 years ago, and the jury will next decide whether he should be put to death for the crimes.

Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis, 52, was found guilty of three counts of premeditated murder after less than three hours of deliberation. Because all 14 Army officers and enlisted personnel on the jury agreed on the verdict, prosecutors will be able to seek the death penalty against Hennis.

Testimony in the sentencing phase of the trial was scheduled to begin Friday morning.

Hennis squeezed his wife's hand upon hearing the verdict but showed no other reaction. Relatives of Kathryn Eastburn and her daughters, 5-year-old Kara and 3-year-old Erin, hugged and cried. Eastburn and the two girls were stabbed to death on May 9, 1985, in their Summerhill Road home in Fayetteville. A third daughter, who was 22 months old at the time, was found unharmed in her crib.

Read more: http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/7382741

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Hennis was convicted in state court in 1986 but won an appeal. He won the appeal based on the fact that another issue was thrown into the mix, the introduction of testimony about my brother's high school friend John Ropak, who looked somewhat like Hennis and would go for walks in the neighborhood late at night. My opinion is that Ropak had NOTHING to do with the case and the appeal should not have been won, but Hennis was championed by the Ricky Schroeder mini-series "Innocent Victims."

More from the article:

"A few years ago, a Cumberland County investigator, inspired by a class he took at Wake Technical Community College, conducted DNA tests on evidence in the case and determined sperm found on Kathryn Eastburn belonged to Hennis. DNA testing wasn't reliable in the 1980s and wasn't used in the initial investigation. Because Hennis couldn't be tried in state court again, the case was turned over to the Army to pursue a court-martial."

[DURHAM D]

1. Its been about 50 years since the military executed anyone so -

I don't think he needs to worry about a death sentence.

[msanthrope]

2. I think they will give him death. His attempt at a defense was repugnant---

he claimed he was having an affair with the mother. That's how his sperm magically showed up in her.

[Hulk]

3. Had the victims been Iraqi's....

...the case probably never would have made it to the courtroom, eh?

[McCamy Taylor]

4. Double jeopardy, no matter how you slice it. This is a miscarriage of justice.

Watch this one get overturned on appeal.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. How is this double jeopardy?

He was tried and convicted in a state (civilian) court in 1986. Then, when he finished his sentence with the state (civilian court), the military tried him (military court martial) for the same crime.

No double jeopardy there. The man was tried by two totally different judicial entities for the same crime. That's what can happen when active duty military people get caught.

It won't get overturned - trust me. It's happened many times before to many other military people.