Fate of a defendant charged with first-degree murder lies in the hands of 12 jurors who will resume deliberations Wednesday.
Murder defendant Tina Williamson, 40, of Woodbury is accused of killing General “Jack” Rains in his McFarlin Avenue home Aug. 31, 2007. She is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder and especially aggravated robbery. Rains’ body was found Sept. 1, 2007 at his home off Old Woodbury Highway where he had been shot five times in the head.
Williamson took the stand shortly before 9 a.m. and declined her right to testify, prompting the defense to rest its case.
Jurors deliberated about two hours and 20 minutes before deciding to end discussions Tuesday.
During Monday’s testimony, District Attorney William Whitesell questioned Williamson’s neighbor Britt Knox.
Knox testified he believed in her innocence and hired his own private investigator. He lent Williamson’s husband, Ronald, $20,000 to make her bail. He was repaid after Tina Williamson received a lump sum for disability.
Through his investigation, Knox said he didn’t find enough evidence to prove the case.
Whitesell asked if Knox ever saw Williamson wear boxer shorts.
“I guess,” Knox replied.
Whitesell asked Knox if Williamson wore a clown hat would he testify for her but sat down before Knox answered.
Willie Lack of Woodbury testified he purchased a .22-caliber handgun from Ronald Williamson. Williamson took five shells out of a box to load the handgun. Lack traded the gun.
Burton Moulder, former Cannon County sheriff, testified Rains was his cousin and traded guns but didn’t know he sold moonshine.
Stephanie Williamson, Tina Williamson’s stepdaughter, testified Rains was part of the family.
Whitesell asked if her mother wore boxer shorts since Williamson’s DNA was found on Rains’ boxer shorts.
“Yes sir,” she replied.
Ronald Williamson testified he met Rains at a flea market and became friends. Rains gave the Williamsons his power of attorney for medical care.
“He told me he thought of her (Tina) as a daughter,” Ronald Williamson said.
The husband, saying he was speaking for Rains, said Rains and his wife did not have a sexual relationship.
Robert Mottor, who is living with Tina Williamson’s daughter, Jessica Alsup, said Rains owned the duplex where they live. Two or three days before his murder, Mottor said he saw a large black man leaving Rains’ home.
“I mean mugged him,” Mottor said.
Mottor said the man disturbed Rains and Mottor offered to use a baseball bat if the man came around again.
After Rains’ murder, Mottor told detectives about the man and described his Mercedes. He picked a man out of a photo lineup.
Monday, Jeffrey Ross, Rains’ neighbor, testified he saw a black man pulling out of Rains’ driveway the same day but later determined it was a “figment of my imagination” after he took a pain killer.
In a taped conversation played Friday by Detective Ty Downing, Williamson told police informant Betty Olson about an unidentified black man Williamson said had arguments with Rains and owed him money.
“I think whoever done it, it was a black guy,” Williamson said.
The prosecution brought two witnesses in rebuttal, sheriff’s Detective Todd Sparks and David Johnson.
Mottor identified Johnson, 47, in a photograph lineup as the unnamed black man in Rains’ driveway.
He testified he had never met Rains or been to his home.
“I don’t even know where that is,” Johnson said when Whitesell asked him if had ever been to Rains’ McFarlin Avenue home.
Furthermore, he had an ironclad alibi for the day of the murder.
Sparks testified Johnson clocked in to work at Standard Register on Butler Drive at 6:56 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007. According to his electronic timesheet, he took one 12-minute break between 12:02 and 12:14 p.m. and clocked out of work at 3:01 p.m.
Johnson then went about town, cashing his paycheck and paying bills until he returned home for the day around 3:30 p.m.
“The only additional information I did was establish the remainder of his day. … I was able to verify that through receipts,” Sparks said, explaining between the timesheet, receipt for his cable bill and house payment, and statements from his family, Johnson could not have committed the crime.
“I did not find anything other than truthfulness from Mr. Johnson …” Sparks said. “I am confident Mr. Johnson had nothing to do with the death of General ‘Jack’ Rains.”
During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Paul Newman told jurors the case was also about Rains. He reviewed the evidence, saying Williamson tried to establish an alibi by calling Rains’ home.
Motive was money since Williamson profited with a $10,000 joint account with Rains, the duplex where her daughter lives and a $100,000 certificate of deposit.
Newman asked jurors to do justice.
“Justice is finding Tina Williamson guilty of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery.
Defense attorney Bob Peters said prosecutors did not allow lead sheriff’s Detective Ralph Mayercik or informant Betty Olson to testify. But Williamson had a constitutional right not to testify.
“Betty Olson has been bought and paid for by the prosecution,” Peters said.
As he reviewed the evidence, Peters continually cited the lack of direct evidence of a murder weapon and a timeline he does not believe is consistent with testimony.
The defense theory is Williamson was in Murfreesboro the day Rains was murdered and lied because she was trying to hide the fact she purchased painkillers, Peters said. The state failed to produce evidence to convict Williamson.
Peters said it was obvious Mottor identified the wrong man during his testimony. No one knows who killed Rains but Peters suggested it could have been someone who wanted to buy moonshine from him.
During his closing argument, Whitesell reminded jurors the case involved mostly circumstantial evidence and lack of a positive murder weapon. One piece of direct evidence came from Williamson’s DNA on the inside of Rains’ boxer shorts.
Williamson killed Rains for money, including their $10,000 joint account and his $100,000 certificate of deposit account, the prosecutor told jurors. The $100,000 was supposed to be used for his care, eating up the assets for Williamson.
“She had 110,000 reasons” to kill Rains, Whitesell said, later adding, “It was all about money, what she could get out of it.”
If jurors wanted theories, they should go home and watch TV.
“But the evidence will show Tina Williamson is guilty of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery,” Whitesell concluded.
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