Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 8, 1994 TAG: 9402080183
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A Vietnam veteran "went into a combat zone in his mind" the night he shot his brother-in-law 12 times, a lawyer said Monday.
Richard Lawrence told a jury that his client, Ricky Lynn O'Neil, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and was experiencing a flashback to his service in Vietnam at the time of the killing.
O'Neil, 40, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Monday as his trial began in Roanoke Circuit Court.
He is accused of killing his sister's husband, Joseph Turner Davis Jr., the night of March 2 at a Woodcrest Road home they all shared.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner told the jury in opening statements that O'Neil emptied two handguns into Davis' body. Most of the shots were to Davis' back, Gardner said.
In a statement to police, O'Neil admitted he shot his brother-in-law, but said he acted in self-defense when Turner pulled a knife on him. The two men had argued after O'Neil returned home from a bar too late for dinner.
A psychiatrist is expected to testify - possibly as soon as today - that the argument triggered a flashback in which O'Neil believed he was back in Vietnam.
Robert Showalter testified at a pretrial hearing last week that O'Neil was unable to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the shooting.
"Something snapped in his mind," Lawrence told the jury. The case is believed to be the first time post-traumatic stress disorder has been used as a defense to a murder charge in Roanoke.
Prosecutors are expected to dispute the insanity theory with testimony from their own psychiatrist.
As Gardner and Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell began to present evidence Monday, the jury heard tape recordings of two 911 calls reporting the shooting.
When police arrived at the house about 8 p.m., they found O'Neil inside, still armed and with extra ammunition in his pockets. Davis, 47, was found lying on the kitchen floor.
Lawrence said in his opening statements that O'Neil went for a second handgun in a bedroom after the gun he started to use malfunctioned. But O'Neil does not remember anything after the first few shots were fired, he said.
Although insanity pleas are rare in Virginia, O'Neil's case is the second to be made in a Roanoke murder case within three weeks.
Last month, a jury rejected Edwin C. Turner's claim that he was temporarily insane the night he killed a man. Lawyers said Turner experienced an "irresistible impulse" caused by the victim's threatening behavior, but the jury convicted him of first-degree murder and set his sentence at life in prison.
O'Neil is also facing a possible life sentence. If he is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would be held in a mental hospital until psychiatrists determine he is no longer a threat to himself or others.
Keywords:
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by CNB