Georgia man guilty of killing eight in mobile home

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A Georgia man was convicted of murder Friday in the beating deaths of his father and seven extended family members inside the cramped mobile they all shared, but he was spared a death sentence in a deal attorneys made to avoid a hung jury.

Guy Heinze Jr., 26, stood silently while his younger brother ran cursing from the courtroom after the jury’s verdict was read. The last-minute deal to withdraw the death penalty means Heinze will be sentenced to life in prison. The trial judge will decide later whether he will be eligible for parole.

Prosecutors said Heinze had been smoking crack cocaine Aug. 29, 2009, when he killed his father and the other victims, all members of an extended family. They said he killed the first victim in a dispute over a bottle of prescription painkillers he wanted to steal, then killed the others to avoid getting caught.

Each of the victims died from multiple crushing blows to the head from what police believe was a shotgun barrel, though the murder weapon was never found. Autopsies showed they suffered a combined total of more than 220 wounds.

Although the attack happened in the middle of the night and most of the victims were found in bed, defense attorneys argued a single assailant couldn’t possibly have inflicted such carnage. They insisted that Heinze would not kill loved ones over a bottle of weak prescription pills and that police ignored evidence and alternate suspects in a rush to accuse him.

“This ain’t right! This ain’t justice!” Heinze’s younger brother, Tyler Heinze, shouted as he left the courthouse. “You know Guy can’t have done this (expletive).”

During three days of deliberations, it looked like the jury could go either way in the case, or possibly fail to reach a unanimous verdict.

The jury foreman reported Thursday afternoon, during the second day of deliberations, that jurors were deadlocked 9 to 3. Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett asked them to keep trying. Jurors recessed for the night after dinner with no verdict.

On Friday morning, the judge announced one of the 12 jurors had been excused and would be replaced with one of three alternates who had also sat through the full week of testimony in the case. They came back with a verdict within four hours. After it was read, Scarlett informed the jury that the death penalty had been taken off the table and therefore their service was done.

Prosecutor John B. Johnson told reporters dropping the death penalty had been necessary to get Heinze’s defense team to agree to let the judge dismiss a particular juror because of “a situation” that contributed to the deadlock. He said neither side wanted a mistrial, which would have meant trying Heinze all over again with a new jury within a few months.

“It was done to get a verdict,” Johnson said. “That was the biggest hang-up both sides had.”

Johnson declined to say which juror was dismissed or why. The jury had been sequestered at a hotel, with no access to TVs, computers or cellphones and under constant watch by deputies, since the trial began Oct. 15. During the trial last week, Deputy Rocky Mortoriet reported to the judge that one juror had been talking about the case against the judge’s orders. Mortoriet said he overheard the juror say while escorting him to the gym: “There is no way I can convict this gentleman.”

Heinze’s lead defense attorney, Newell Hamilton Jr., declined to comment as he left the courthouse Friday.

Four years ago, Heinze told police he found the victims’ bodies after returning from a late night away from home. During the frantic 911 call, Heinze cried: “My whole family is dead!” Six days later, investigators charged him with murder.

The dead included Heinze’s father, Guy Heinze Sr., 45. Rusty Toler Sr., 44, was slain along with his four children: Chrissy Toler, 22; Russell D. Toler Jr., 20; Michael Toler, 19; and Michelle Toler, 15. Also killed was the elder Toler’s sister, Brenda Gail Falagan, 49, and Joseph L. West, the 30-year-old boyfriend of Chrissy Toler. Her 3-year-old son, Byron Jimerson Jr., ended up the sole survivor but suffered severe head injuries.

Heinze told police his father went to live with the elder Toler’s family when they were both teenagers. The suspect said he considered Rusty Toler Sr. to be his uncle, and the man’s children were his cousins.