THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170351
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Hours after going ``berserk'' Tuesday in a Pasquotank County courtroom, Richard S. ``Ricky'' Hogarth pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend and severely wounding her stepgrandfather.
Hogarth, 31, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the March 1995 death of Tracy Dawn Crafton. Crafton was fleeing Hogarth for the safety of her grandparents' van on a stormy evening when Hogarth shot her in the head, back and leg.
He had been on trial since last week for first-degree murder and, if convicted of that offense, could have received the death penalty.
Also on Tuesday, Hogarth pleaded guilty to shooting Ronald Revering of Virginia Beach with a .38-caliber pistol at a convenience store parking lot on the outskirts of Elizabeth City.
Hogarth had attempted to shoot Shirley Revering, Crafton's grandmother, that evening at the Zoom-In on U.S. 17. But the gun apparently jammed. He fled the scene, stole a car in Norfolk and was apprehended days later in Chesapeake.
Under a plea arrangement, Hogarth will serve at least 43 years and up to 53 years in a North Carolina prison for the two crimes.
It is unlikely Hogarth will survive his sentence. He has AIDS and has been told he has less than three years to live.
Court proceedings were twice delayed this month so physicians could determine whether Hogarth was healthy enough to stand trial.
``I'd just like to say that I'm sorry for killing Tracy. I'm sorry for hurting Mr. Revering and Mrs. Revering,'' Hogarth said calmly as he spoke before Senior Resident Superior Court Judge J. Richard Parker. ``And that I didn't never beat her,'' he added, in reference to Tuesday's testimony that indicated Hogarth had abused Crafton.
Hogarth's quiet demeanor was a stark contrast to an outburst he had made a few hours before, after Parker ruled testimony about the possible origins of Crafton's bruises would not be heard by a jury.
Hogarth stood up and started yelling at the judge and other court officials while moving away from the defense table.
``I thought you all wanted to hear the damn truth. You all don't want to hear the truth. You all want to hear damn lies,'' Hogarth yelled as bailiffs and sheriff's deputies moved to restrain him.
Hogarth resisted. A moment later, court officials bound him with leg irons and handcuffs. He was led, cursing and struggling, from the courtroom.
The outburst occurred out of the jury's presence. Before the panel returned, Parker said, ``Let the record reflect the defendant went beserk[sic] in the courtroom. If he continues to act like this, I'm going to have him bound and gagged.''
A few hours after a lunch recess, however, Hogarth was much more subdued and upbeat - even chatting for some time with one of the policemen who had helped to restrain him.
Hogarth's attorneys said their client admitted he killed Crafton, whom he'd been involved with for about three weeks, and injured Revering. But Hogarth claimed the shootings were not premeditated. So he refused to plead guilty to first-degree murder.
``It's a complete victory for us,'' said Samuel B. Dixon, one of Hogarth's court-appointed attorneys. ``It's exactly what we wanted,'' he said of the plea bargain.
``He has said all along he didn't plan to kill them. Given his temperment in the courtroom today, I think you can see that might be true.''
State prosecutor Michael Johnson said after Tuesday's proceedings that he, too, was satisfied with the plea agreement.
``The family - they just decided to resolve the case and have it over with,'' Johnson said. ``The family thought he should still answer to his charges. But they reconsidered today.''
When asked if Hogarth's outburst influenced the change, Johnson said, ``I think it probably scared everybody. The main thing that changed it, though, was the numbers we came up with as the sentence. That made a difference with the family.''
Both Crafton's family and Hogarth's mother and aunt cried on and off throughout the trial.
Crafton's mother, Florence Forbes of Shiloh, continually clutched a small teddy bear that she had said she hoped would bring her good luck.
Tuesday's change of plea followed testimony from Andy P. Stone, a former Camden County resident who once saw Hogarth grab Crafton by the collar. Crafton had told Stone that bruises and scratches on her face were from Hogarth's beating and that she feared for her life.
Under cross-examination, defense attorney Gary Underhill asked Stone about another prior incident which suggested Crafton may have been roughed up by someone else.
But Parker ruled the jury could not hear that testimony since it did not relate to the events discussed under direct examination.
Assistant District Attorney Samantha Edwards said other witnesses would have testified that Crafton had been abused and intimidated by Hogarth.
Two days before she was killed, Crafton had gone to a Camden County magistrate to have an assault warrant served against him. The warrant was never issued.
On March 7, the day before she was killed, Crafton wrote down Hogarth's name, address and physical description on a piece of paper and gave it to a concerned aunt, Edwards said.
``If you don't hear from me,'' Crafton reportedly told the woman, ``This is the person who is going to kill me.''
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING TRIAL VERDICT
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