Testimony from defense witnesses is expected to continue this morning at the Miller County Courthouse in the capital murder trial of a 67-year-old woman accused of killing a fellow square dancer in 2013.
Wheelington's body was discovered by two friends on the front porch of her South Valley Road home in Texarkana, Ark., at about 8 a.m. Wheelington's body was outstretched on the porch, in front of an exterior door, a cigarette still perched in her right hand. On a small wooden table sat her cellphone, a pack of cigarettes, an ashtray and a yellow coffee mug. Fabric from the thick, brightly colored bathrobe she wore was recovered from the back of a swivel chair on the porch, leading detectives to conclude she was sitting in the chair when she was struck with the first of five .38 caliber bullets that tore through her heart and lungs and left her only a minute to try to reach the safety of her home before she collapsed on the porch.
Virginia Hyatt's husband, James Hyatt, testified Wednesday that he was having an affair with Wheelington, but denied the romance was the sole reason he decided to pack his things and leave his wife Nov. 29, 2013.
Virginia Hyatt was arrested at about 2 a.m. Dec. 4 and has been in custody since. A jury of nine men and three women was chosen one week ago today to decide her fate.
The Defense
Texarkana lawyers John Pickett, Damon Young and Bruce Condit have argued the state does not have enough evidence for a conviction.
"Motive does not equal murder," Pickett argued Friday at the close of the state's case.
When cross-examining James Hyatt, the defense questioned him about a life insurance payout he received from Wheelington's estate. James Hyatt testified that his and Virginia Hyatt's assets are worth about $500,000 and the defense pointed out that James Hyatt will be able to keep it all if his estranged wife is convicted.
While five members of Guys and Dolls testified that Virginia Hyatt was an intensely jealous person with a focused hatred of Wheelington, they also said they never believed James Hyatt and Wheelington were involved romantically. The defense lawyers asked witnesses if Virginia Hyatt was wrongfully disbelieved and made to feel an outcast when her correct assumption about her husband's feelings for Wheelington were dismissed by their friends.
Two Guys and Dolls members who testified for the defense said they never heard Virginia Hyatt say a cross word about anyone, much less Wheelington.
The defense said testimony that Virginia Hyatt drove to Wheelington's home Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2013, and angrily confronted Wheelington as she sat on her front porch Dec. 2, 2013, does not prove she is the person who murdered Wheelington.
In his cross-examination of an Arkansas State Crime Lab firearms examiner, Young emphasized the testifying analyst was not the same person who actually conducted gunshot residue tests on a maroon shirt taken by police from Virginia Hyatt's bedroom. The defense has elicited expert testimony that no DNA or blood belonging to Wheelington was found on Virginia Hyatt's clothing or in her car.
The State of Arkansas
Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black and Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Black, who are not related, elicited testimony to support the state's theory that Virginia Hyatt is a pathologically jealous person who decided to eliminate the person she blamed for the end of her 40-year marriage. Five Guys and Dolls witnesses said Virginia Hyatt seethed when her husband danced with other women, especially if they were single, and that she couldn't hide her animosity toward Wheelington.
James Hyatt testified he waited for Virginia to leave the house Nov. 29, 2013, before hastily packing a few belongings and beginning a drive to Florida with a sister. James Hyatt said his sisters came to him, afraid his life was in danger, after Virginia told them she thought James Hyatt might commit suicide. James Hyatt told the jury he believes his wife was plotting to kill him.
Witnesses testified that they warned Wheelington to keep her door closed and call the police if Hyatt returned to her home after the Dec. 2 face-to-face confrontation on the porch and another at the square dance hall the same night. Club members said they became increasingly concerned when Wheelington didn't answer the phone the day of the slaying because she had told the last person to talk to her at about 8 a.m. that morning that Virginia Hyatt was coming up her driveway.
Video surveillance footage from McDonald's at about 9:30 a.m. the morning of the shooting shows Hyatt wearing a maroon shirt like the one that tested positively for gunshot residue. Virginia Hyatt had told investigators she'd been at the McDonalds at about 8 a.m. Hyatt had also claimed she spent an hour at her mother's nursing home when video surveillance shows she was there only 12 minutes.
To convict Virginia Hyatt of capital murder, the jury must find that she carried out the shooting with premeditation. If the jury believes Virginia Hyatt killed Wheelington but that she did so without a preconceived plan, they could find her guilty of first-degree murder, an offense punishable by ten to 40 years or life with the possibility of parole.
Once the defense has finished calling witnesses and rested its case, the state may call rebuttal witnesses to refute defense testimony. Once both sides have rested and closed, Circuit Judge Randy Wright will instruct the jury on the law they must follow in their deliberations before closing arguments are made by both sides.
The case should be in the jury's hands this week.