ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER Over beers and a game of pool last
June, Thomas A. Burton was told that the man he had shot the night before was
struggling for his life in a Roanoke hospital.
"He said he hoped he died," Brian Williams testified Tuesday, recalling
their conversation in a Roanoke bar. Burton said he made eye contact with his
victim as he fired a shot into his forehead, Williams testified, and was
concerned that the man would identify him if he lived.
Randall E. Carter died a short time later. Burton still was convicted of his murder, even without the victim's testimony.
After a daylong trial Tuesday, Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein found Burton guilty of murder and robbery based on the word of Williams and another man involved in a plot to rob Carter last June 30 at his Memorial Avenue Southwest home.
Burton, 29, was portrayed as the gunman in the botched robbery by both Williams, who was waiting outside in a car at the scene and was granted immunity for his testimony, and Michael Houser, who also faces charges of murder and robbery in the killing.
The men testified they had all been drinking when they hatched the idea of robbing Carter, figuring that he would have both money and marijuana for the taking because of rumors that the 48-year-old man was involved in drug dealing.
They drove to Carter's Raleigh Court home about 2 a.m. and asked to use the telephone. Carter let them in. At that point, Houser testified, Burton pulled a gun and demanded money or drugs from Carter.
Carter directed them to his refrigerator, where Houser said he found a half-ounce of marijuana in the butter tray. But that wasn't enough for Burton, who became angrier and more threatening.
As Carter attempted to flee, Houser testified, Burton fired three shots at close range - striking Carter in the wrist, abdomen and forehead.
"Mr. Burton executed Mr. Carter in cold blood, for absolutely nothing," said Houser, who was accidentally shot in the stomach during the chaos.
Burton, however, claimed that he went home in a drunken stupor without going to Carter's home, only to be framed for a murder that his lawyer claimed was committed by either Houser or Williams.
"This is the proverbial case of the odd man out," said Richmond lawyer John McGarvey, arguing that Williams and Houser knew each other well and had both motive and opportunity to pin the blame on his client.
In fact, McGarvey asked for a mistrial after learning that Williams and Houser were represented by the same attorney. Weckstein rejected the motion.
Houser is expected to plead guilty next month. He testified Tuesday that he has received no promises of leniency for his cooperation, although Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said after the trial that he may ask that Houser receive a lighter sentence.
McGarvey made much of the fact that the money and marijuana taken from Carter's house were found in Houser's shoe when Williams drove him to the hospital after the shooting. "All the physical evidence points to Houser and Williams," he said.
But as Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice Ekirch noted, a baseball cap found at the murder scene was traced to Burton when DNA tests matched the sweat in the headband to the defendant.
Burton had been charged with capital murder, but prosecutors reduced the charge to first-degree murder at the start of the bench trial. Caldwell said the charge was reduced because of possible confusion over who actually pulled the trigger in the killing.
Burton is scheduled to be sentenced March 4, and faces a maximum punishment of two life sentences.
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