THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 11, 1995 TAG: 9507110248
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Ignore the videotaped confession, Michael Clagett's attorney told jurors Monday.
In closing arguments in Clagett's capital murder trial, attorney Tom Watkins argued that Clagett didn't really fire the gun that killed four people at the Witchduck Inn last year, even if he said he did in a confession to police one day after the slayings.
No, Watkins said, it was really Clagett's lover, Denise Holsinger, who probably killed the four, then convinced her drunken boyfriend that he had done the deed.
Watkins accused police of conducting an ``incomplete and totally sloppy'' investigation after Clagett confessed, so there is no physical evidence to support his confession.
``What happened in this case is a statement was given (by Clagett) and everybody dropped the ball,'' Watkins said. ``There is no corroboration for him pulling the trigger.''
He called Holsinger a ``spider woman'' who manipulated Clagett and probably killed the bar's owner and three others in revenge for being fired from a job there.
It was the first time that Clagett's attorneys have told the jury their version of what happened.
Prosecutors, however, told the jury Monday that the case against Clagett is ``crystal clear'' and there is plenty of evidence to corroborate his confession.
``What impressed me most about Mr. Watkins' argument was that he managed to give it with a straight face,'' Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Humphreys told the jury.
Jurors deliberated about two hours Monday before retiring for the day. They will return to Circuit Court today for further deliberation.
Clagett, 34, is accused of the execution-style shooting deaths of four people at the neighborhood bar on June 30, 1994 - the owner, a bartender, a handyman and a patron. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
The main evidence against him is a 90-minute videotape of his confession. In it, Clagett first denied the crime, then wept for more than an hour as he admitted planning the crime with Holsinger, firing the murder weapon and stealing $400.
``I did it. Yeah, I did it. I did it all,'' Clagett told police.
In the confession, Clagett repeatedly asked to be executed - ``I will die. I need to,'' Clagett said. But those portions were not shown to the jury, on judge's orders, so as not to prejudice their deliberations.
Watkins did not deny the confession, or that Clagett was sincere in making it, but he said Clagett was duped by Holsinger into believing he had carried out the murders.
Watkins said there is no evidence proving that the gun found in Clagett's house is the murder weapon. There are no witnesses to the killings, no fingerprints and Holsinger did not testify for either side. The defense called no witnesses when it rested its case Friday.
In Virginia, a person cannot be convicted on his confession alone. There must be supporting evidence.
Watkins also argued that there is no direct evidence that money was taken from the bar. He argued that the cash register may have been emptied by the owner just before he was shot. Police found about $900 in the bar, mainly in a back office, after the slayings.
``Is there any showing at all that money was taken?'' Watkins asked the jury. ``. . . Here we're dealing with sheer speculation.''
In rebuttal, Humphreys urged the jury to use their common sense. He said many pieces of physical evidence - the position of the four bodies, the position of their wounds, the gun in Clagett's dresser, just where he told police it would be - corroborate Clagett's confession.
``These murders, all four of them, were in the coldest of cold blood,'' Humphreys said.
If the jury convicts Clagett, another hearing will be held immediately after to recommend his sentence - life in prison or death. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff photos
Jurors in the trial of Michael Clagett, left, return to Circuit
Court today to continue deliberations. Defense attorneys said
Clagett's lover, Denise Holsinger, top, manipulated him.
KEYWORDS: CAPITAL MURDER MURDER TRIAL by CNB