THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507080389
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
Sometimes sobbing, sometimes whispering, sometimes croaking out almost-indecipherable words, murder suspect Michael D. Clagett confessed to police for 90 minutes in a videotape played Friday during his trial.
Jurors and spectators sat mesmerized, watching Clagett confess on a big projection screen and two smaller video monitors in the courtroom.
At first, the wild-haired Clagett defied police to prove he was at the Witchduck Inn when four people were shot to death there last year. ``I don't care if somebody stood out that f-----g window and took Polaroids, you didn't have me inside that bar last night,'' Clagett declared, arms crossed over his chest. ``There's no way.''
Then, without warning, Clagett bawled nonstop for more than an hour, apologizing over and over, admitting he shot all four victims, including ``my buddy'' LamVan Son, the bar's owner, and saying he wished he could take it all back.
``You can fry me,'' Clagett said, weeping, to Detective Paul C. Yoakam. ``That's what I'm going to ask for when we go to court. Fry me. I'm not going to live. I don't want the taxpayers supporting me. I did it. Yeah, I did it. I did it all. All by my f-----g self. . .
``And the worst thing was Lam was my buddy. That's the f-----g worst thing. He was my buddy. Lam was my buddy.''
Prosecutors ended their case Friday with the videotape and another 5-second tape of Clagett confessing to a television news reporter that same day.
``Are you guilty of these charges?'' the reporter asked.
``Yep,'' Clagett replied. ``I shot every one of them.''
In a surprise move, the defense rested without calling any witnesses.
That means Clagett's lawyers hope to convince jurors that the evidence alone, without rebuttal, does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Clagett committed the murders and robbed the tavern on June 30, 1994.
One of Clagett's lawyers, Tom Watkins, asked Judge Edward W. Hanson Jr. to dismiss the charges, saying they are based on Clagett's confession alone with no supporting evidence.
Hanson said no.
The motion did, however, point up an unusual aspect of the prosecution's case: If Clagett had not confessed, very little would have tied him to the killings.
There were no eyewitnesses. The only physical evidence was a gun found in Clagett's house and bullet fragments at the scene. An expert testified that the fragments might have come from Clagett's gun, but he could not be sure.
The only physical evidence of robbery was the bar's empty cash register, with the drawer pulled open, and the bar's locked front door. Police confiscated $142 from Clagett when he was arrested, but several hundred dollars was left behind at the bar.
There was no testimony from Clagett's lover, Denise Holsinger, who helped plan and carry out the murders. Her lengthy statement to police also was not used.
Holsinger has pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder. She will be sentenced July 19 but cannot get the death penalty.
Lawyers on both sides probably will use Clagett's lengthy confession to support and oppose the death penalty. Clagett's lawyers probably will argue that Holsinger was at least equally guilty, yet she cannot be sentenced to death.
In his confession, Clagett at first downplayed Holsinger's role.
But then he related details of how Holsinger planned the robbery, how she carried his bullets, how she locked the bar's front door, cleaned out the cash register and ordered him to ``Do it!'' when the time came.
``She kept pushing me to go ahead and do it, go, it's time to go now,'' Clagett said.
Later, Clagett said he wished he had killed Holsinger instead.
``I should have shot her. If anybody needed shooting, it was her,'' Clagett said. ``God, I wish I could take it back. I would take it, take it back. She'd be dead.'' He called himself a victim of Holsinger.
That night in a Nags Head hotel, Clagett said, he couldn't sleep when he realized what he had done. Holsinger, however, slept soundly and was worried only about cigarettes, Clagett said.
On tape, Clagett wept constantly, leaning back into the corner of the police interview room, occasionally putting his hands over his face. Over and over, he insisted that Son was his friend and lamented that he ever pulled the trigger.
He said the robbery netted $400.
``I did it and I need to be killed for doing it. I really do. I really do. Lam was so good. Lam and Aziz, they never hurt nobody in their f-----g life. Nobody. . .
``One hundred dollars a f-----g life and those people, two of them that I know. I saw Lam's (family) this morning. I wanted to say something then, but it just don't matter. I know I'm going to die. I know it. I want to. I will.''
When the judge stopped the videotape for a lunch break, Clagett walked quickly out of the courtroom, pushing through a side door that leads to a holding cell. A sheriff's deputy rushed to catch up.
The jury will return Monday for closing arguments and to decide Clagett's guilt or innocent.
If Clagett, 34, is convicted, a second hearing will be held immediately after to determine his sentence - life in prison or death. ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/
Staff photo
Det. Paul C. Yoakum's videotaped interview of Clagett was shown to
the jury on Friday at Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL by CNB