RALEIGH — State prosecutors used their closing argument in the murder trial of Grant Hayes to paint him — as ex-girlfriend Laura Ackerson called him — as a sociopath who wanted to erase Ackerson’s existence when he’s alleged to have killed her on July 13, 2011.
Assistant District Attorney Boz Zellinger graphically described the grisly method used to dispose of Ackerson’s body and Hayes’ view of Ackerson before and after her death.
“To be sliced apart, and then acid poured on you, and then left to rot in a Texas creek. It’s hard to get past the depravity of the situation,” Zellinger said. “And the reason everything that happened after the murder was so important is because it tells you why who committed this crime.”
He continued, “Someone who takes someone’s severed head and puts it in a hog pen and pours acid on it. Would that be the person who committed this murder, or would it be someone else in this apartment?”
Zellinger said one of the songs Hayes wrote before Ackerson’s death, “Broomstick Rider,” is evidence of premeditation to murder her.
“The wretchedness in this case could only have been performed by one person,” Zellinger said. “A person who wrote a song about killing the mother of his children.”
Part of the song’s lyrics go, “You must have told your attorney I got intentions on killing you. What? … Might stop me, but my bullets will get you soon. I've got my goons from way back. They still owe me money, told them you stayed at my mom's crib. Now ain't that funny?”
Ackerson stayed with Hayes’ mother in Kinston after their relationship ended.
Zellinger also showed the jury the power saw Hayes used to dismember Ackerson’s body, and said he operated in a deliberate manner, to the point of going to a Walmart after 2 a.m. to find longer blades.
Zellinger said jurors can find Grant Hayes guilty if they believe he murdered Ackerson without assistance, or if the Hayes couple worked in concert in the crime.
Hayes attorney Jeff Cutler told the jury the decision to transport Ackerson’s body to Texas and dispose of her remains in a creek near his wife Amanda’s sister’s house showed Amanda Hayes was calling the shots.
“It doesn’t make sense for Grant Hayes — if he had killed Laura Ackerson, would it make sense that he would decide, ‘You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to see relatives I never met before,’ ” Cutler said. “That makes no sense.”
He added, “That’s something Amanda would say.”
Cutler described several aspects of the crime that would be part of “a really bad plan” had Grant Hayes asked Ackerson to his apartment with the intention of killing her.
Cutler also brought up that Amanda Hayes’ sister, Karen Berry, told the court that when questioned, Amanda told her that she had hurt Ackerson.
Friday morning, Berry finished her testimony in the case that while Amanda Hayes told her that, she did it in the presence of Grant Hayes. Later, when the two were alone, Berry said Amanda Hayes nodded her head, indicating she was covering up for Grant Hayes.
While not saying Berry sought not to implicate her sister, Cutler mentioned how Berry told police she didn’t want to have to testify against Amanda Hayes.
The defense’s last witness before closing arguments was Raleigh Police Department Detective Jerry Faulk, who read aloud from multiple emails in which Grant Hayes and Ackerson were friendly about custody arrangements for their two children, and the number of times Ackerson would pick up the children at Grant Hayes’ apartment, along with mid-week visits.
Some of Ackerson’s friends testified that picking up the children at Grant Hayes’ residence and going to Raleigh in the middle of the week were unusual for Ackerson.
As the case goes to the jury, Judge Donald Stephens instructed jurors they can return with a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of second-degree murder or not guilty.
Second-degree murder comes with a sentence of 12 years in prison to life without parole, while a first-degree murder conviction would result in life in prison without parole, only. The state declined to seek a death sentence.
Jurors begin deliberations at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Wake County Justice Center.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.