Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220133
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LEWISBURG, W. VA. LENGTH: Medium
``She was there to do mortal harm to all of them. None of them was safe,'' Greenbrier County Prosecutor Richard Lorensen said during closing arguments in the trial of Tracy Lippard, 23, of Newport News, Va.
Jurors deliberated for six hours Monday in Greenbrier County Circuit Court before breaking for the day about 9:20 p.m.
Lippard has testified that she placed a 9mm pistol, butcher knife and lighter fluid in her car and prepared a list of questions for her ex-boyfriend, Todd Scott. She said she then drove 250 miles on Feb. 27 to the Lewisburg home of Rodney Weikle, thinking Scott would be there.
Lippard's rival, Melissa Scott, was eight months pregnant with Scott's child at the time. They were married in August.
Lorensen said Weikle allowed Lippard into his home because he believed her car had broken down and the family wanted to help.
``How safe were they? They were about 2 inches away from death,'' Lorensen said. ``The undisputed proof is, despite her blackout or whatever, she came up behind Mr. Weikle ... and hit him over the head with this hammer.''
Lippard has denied knowing where the hammer came from, although she has admitted holding it.
``This is a very mysterious hammer. It's a hammer that all of a sudden appeared in somebody's hand,'' Lorensen said. ``Tracy Lippard is a liar. Unquestionable.''
Lippard's lawyer, Paul Detch, had said his client became upset because Scott didn't keep a promise to attend the Miss Williamsburg pageant, where she had dedicated a song to him, the day before the alleged attack.
He had said Lippard had planned on slashing Scott's tires if he rejected her. She said she brought a pistol because she knew Scott had a gun.
During closing arguments, Detch cited for the jury 19 instances Monday in which they should have reasonable doubts about the prosecution's case.
``The state's case seems to follow `psycho-Barbie doll attempts murder.' Does that make sense?'' Detch told the jury. ``Somebody is going to come down and commit murder of three individuals? Or the defense version, a young lady comes down trying to find out if her boyfriend is loyal to her?''
If Lippard wanted to commit murder, she likely would have done it at night or tried to disguise herself, Detch argued.
Detch also said the prosecution submitted no fingerprint evidence and no photographs to show that Weikle was wounded.
Lippard and her mother, Leta Lippard, cried when Detch asked the jury to have mercy on his client.
``I ask that you be kind to Tracy,'' Detch said. ``My client is guilty of foolishness and stupidity ... but I submit she is a kind person.''
by CNB