Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993 TAG: 9309150059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SALEM LENGTH: Medium
Mergler's body was found in October 1988 in a Giles County cistern, 14 months after the 19-year-old Virginia Tech student disappeared. She had been shot in the face and head.
The Merglers had to wait for their daughter's body to be found so they could give her a proper burial. They waited for an arrest, then waited until the trial started. Now they're waiting out an appeal by the man who was convicted of killing their daughter.
John David Lafon, 33, a construction worker from Pembroke, was convicted in October 1991 of abducting and murdering Mergler. He was sentenced to life plus 12 years in prison.
Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals heard arguments by defense attorneys on four issues raised in a writ of error granted last year.
Maryalice and Mark Mergler drove from Alexandria to hear the arguments Tuesday. Mark Mergler carries a notebook with newspaper clippings and notes on the case. Maryalice Mergler speaks quietly of her frustration but appears to have found some solace in a victim-witness support group in Fairfax County. Her remarks after the hearing were as much about other homicide cases and their families' pain as they were about her daughter's case.
At issue in the appeal for a new trial:
Whether Giles County Circuit Judge Dow Owens erred in admitting testimony regarding a prior alleged act of misconduct that occurred more than a year before Mergler disappeared.
Doug Brinckman, one of two court-appointed lawyers representing Lafon, told the judges that testimony about remarks Lafon was alleged to have made more than a year before Mergler disappeared should not have been admitted and did not have a bearing on the case.
A witness testified during the trial that Lafon and a group of men drove to Virginia Tech. The witness said the men talked about picking up a woman and that Lafon said, "If we got a girl, we'd have to kill her 'cause she'd recognize us."
But that night, all Lafon did was ask a female jogger for directions, and Brinckman said that did not constitute premeditation of the charges Lafon eventually faced.
Allegations of prior misconduct are extremely prejudicial to defendants, Brinckman told the judges.
Whether hearsay testimony given by a prosecution witness - which included a legal conclusion as to Lafon's guilt - deprived Lafon of a fair trial.
Doug Jones, a former best friend of Lafon's, testified at the trial, stating his belief that Lafon was guilty. Brinckman argued that the jury put a lot of faith in what Lafon's close friend had to say.
Whether the court wrongly admitted statements made by Lafon that were secretly tape-recorded, even though defense attorneys had told police they wanted to be present any time Lafon was questioned.
A friend of Lafon's was wired to tape a conversation with Lafon and also with Max Jenkins, Lafon's lawyer.
Whether sufficient evidence was presented to support the jury's verdict that Lafon abducted Mergler.
There is no evidence of how Mergler got to Giles County, and Brinckman argued there was the possibility she went there willingly after leaving a friend at a night spot about midnight, Brinckman argued.
Richard B. Smith, assistant attorney general, told the three-judge panel that the incident in 1986 with the jogger shows what Lafon had planned. He "wasn't just talking about picking up a girl for a date," Smith said.
Smith said the only real issue for the court to decide out of the four items of the appeal was whether an abduction occurred.
Smith said the jury had to consider the circumstances of the case to decide whether Mergler went to Giles County voluntarily or was forced to go as part of a plan that resulted in her death.
Smith said Mergler didn't go to Giles County voluntarily. She was planning a trip home the next day and had left her clothes, glasses and a check for a large amount of money at her apartment.
It could take up to six months before the judges return a ruling on the appeal. If the court grants the appeal, a new trial would be scheduled. If the appeal is denied, Lafon could continue his appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.
"It doesn't end," Maryalice Mergler said. "This goes on and on. A murder trial and conviction doesn't mean the end."
After his conviction, Lafon was identified as a prime suspect in the death of Andrea Walnes, a Virginia Tech student who disappeared July 4, 1991, while tubing at McCoy Falls in Montgomery County. No charges have been filed in that case.
The skeletal remains of Walnes, an 18-year-old sophomore, were found in the Jefferson National Forest in Giles County on Nov. 1, 1991.
by CNB