THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220622
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LEWISBURG, W.VA. LENGTH: Long : 138 lines
A Virginia beauty queen was a liar and ``a victim of love,'' which prompted her to plot the deaths of her pregnant romantic rival and the woman's parents, a prosecutor said Monday.
``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 began deliberating the case Monday in Greenbrier County Circuit Court.
Lippard has testified 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 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 the woman's car had broken down and the family wanted to help.
``How safe were they? They were about two 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.''
Lorensen called the relationship between Lippard and Scott ``a weekday romance.'' Frequently, he said, ``she had been the victim of love.''
Lippard's lawyer, Paul Detch, had said she 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 his tires if he rejected her. She said she took a pistol because she knew Scott had a gun.
During closing arguments, Detch gave 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 asked 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?
``Is the state's case consistent? Is the state's case a Cadillac on the way to glory or a winter car wreck on the way to the dump?'' he said.
If Lippard wanted to commit murder, she likely would have done it at night or tried to disguise herself, Detch argued.
Detch then took the knife allegedly possessed by Lippard and scraped the six-inch blade across his arm. It did not break his skin.
``The knife is not sharp. We submit that it is not an evil weapon,'' Detch said.
He then held up the hammer, which prosecutors say separated from the handle when Lippard struck Weikle in the head.
``This case has a major ding-aling factor,'' Detch said. ``Any time you start to deal with it, the head comes off. Why if you're going to start a brutal attack, would you use this item?''
Detch also said the prosecution submitted no fingerprints on the hammer 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.''
Lippard is accused of attempted murder, battery, bringing stolen property into the state and other misdemeanor charges. If convicted of all charges, she faces up to 30 years in prison.
LEWISBURG, W.Va. - A Virginia beauty queen was a liar and ``a victim of love,'' prompting her to plot the deaths of her pregnant romantic rival and the woman's parents, a prosecutor said Monday.
``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.
Jury foreman Harvey Agee of Rupert told Circuit Judge Charles Lobban that the jurors had decided some of the counts but hadn't agreed on others. He didn't elaborate.
Deliberations were to resume at 9 a.m. today.
Lippard has testified she placed a 9mm pistol, butcher knife and lighter fluid in her car, prepared a list of questions, then drove 250 miles Feb. 27 to the Lewisburg home of Rodney Weikle, thinking her ex-boyfriend, Todd 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 that 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 whether the hammer came from, although she has admitted holding the handle.
``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.''
Lorensen called the relationship between Lippard and Scott ``a weekday romance.'' Frequently he said, ``she had been the victim of love.''
Lippard's lawyer, Paul Detch, had said she 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 his tires if he rejected her. She said she brought a pistol because she knew Scott had a gun.
During closing arguments, Detch gave the jurors 19 instances 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 asked 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?''
``Is the state's case consistent? Is the state's case a Cadillac on the way to glory or a winter car wreck on the way to the dump?'' he said.
If Lippard wanted to commit murder, she likely would done it at night or tried to disguise herself, Detch argued.
Detch then took the butcher knife allegedly possessed by Lippard and scraped the 6-inch blade across his arm. It did not break his skin.
``The knife is not sharp. We submit that it is not an evil weapon,'' Detch said.
He then held up the hammer, which prosecutors say separated from the handle when Lippard struck Weikle in the head.
``This case has a major dingaling factor,'' Detch said. ``Any time you start to deal with it, the head comes off. Why if you're going to start a brutal attack, would you use this item?''
Detch also said the prosecution submitted no fingerprints on the hammer and no photographs to show that Weikle was wounded.
Lippard is accused of attempted murder, battery, bringing stolen property into the state and other misdemeanors. If convicted of all charges, she faces up to 30 years in prison.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT by CNB