THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290400
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 73 lines
Kristen Bishop was unnerved last June when a newspaper published the composite drawing of a young man police were looking for in connection with the disappearance of Georgia pre-med student Jennifer L. Evans.
The 22-year-old waitress thought she knew the man. She believed it was her ex-boyfriend's best friend from Navy SEAL training, Dustin A. Turner.
She was so upset by the thought that Turner, 21, might be involved in Evans' disappearance that she called her father in California for advice, and asked her mother in Virginia for guidance. Bishop finally concluded that she had to tell police what she knew.
She didn't realize at the time that the tip to Crime Solvers that led police to Turner would eventually net her $26,000 in reward money.
Nor did she realize that her tip would end up getting her ex-boyfriend - Billy Joe Brown - charged with murder, abduction, attempted rape and sexual penetration.
Tuesday in Virginia Beach Circuit Court, Bishop told her story to Judge A. Bonwill Shockley and the jury that will decide Brown's fate. Brown is on trial for Evans' murder and could receive a life sentence if convicted.
Bishop told the jury she accidently ran into Brown, 23, at an Oceanfront bar called The Bayou last June 19, the night that Evans disappeared. Even though the two were still friends, they had stopped dating almost three months earlier.
``He was very intoxicated,'' Bishop testified during the second day of Brown's trial. ``He would kind of lean on me when we were talking.''
Turner also was at the bar, Bishop testified, but he seemed much more sober.
``Dusty seemed fine,'' Bishop said. ``He might have had a few drinks, but he didn't seem as intoxicated as Billy did.''
Turner, Bishop said, spent most of his time flirting with Evans. And Evans, she said, was returning the attention.
``She seemed interested,'' Bishop said. ``Very interested.''
Bishop even asked Turner if he was going to take Evans home with him, which Bishop said was code for having sex.
``He said yes,'' Bishop said. ``I told him, `Well, if that is what you are going to do, use a condom.' ''
Brown, on the other hand, showed no interest in Evans, Bishop said, and appeared to only be interested in going home alone.
``He seemed agitated,'' Bishop said. ``He wanted to go home.''
As the bar closed, Bishop testified, she saw Evans and Turner leave hand in hand.
Brown and Turner are both charged with killing Evans and dumping her body in a gully in a Newport News park after abducting her from The Bayou June 19.
Both initially lied to authorities, but eventually admitted playing a role in the murder on June 27 after Bishop's tip led police to Turner and then to Brown.
Bishop testified that she quit dating Brown in March 1995, about one week after Brown admitted that he and Turner had had three-way sex with a woman while the two were stationed in California. Brown never mentioned the incident again after Bishop indicated she was not interested.
``I told him that if that is what he was intending, I had no interest in it,'' Bishop said.
When she called police with the Crime Solvers tip, Bishop had no idea that Brown was involved in Evans' disappearance, she testified. She also testified that the $26,000 reward was a surprise.
Virginia Beach Police supplied $1,000 of the reward. The remainder was provided by a Georgia utility company.
Evans was a pre-med student at Atlanta's Emory University. She was vacationing in Virginia Beach when she disappeared last June. ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing by ALBA BRAGOLI
Kristen Bishop, in court Tuesday, said her suspicions led to the
arrests of Billy Joe Brown, left, and his friend Dustin A. Turner.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL U.S. NAVY SEAL by CNB