RALEIGH — It took a Wake County jury a shade over 90 minutes to come back with a verdict for Kinston native Grant Ruffin Hayes III accused of killing his former girlfriend and mother of two of his children, Laura Ackerson: guilty of murder in the first degree.
As Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens read the jury’s verdict, which was delivered to Hayes following a three-week trial, Hayes listened without any visible emotion. After dismissing the eight-woman, four-man jury, Stephens handed down his sentence.
“(The quick verdict) probably speaks louder than anything anyone could say about this case,” Stephens said. “It is the judgment of this court that you be sentenced to the North Carolina Department of Correction for the period of your natural life without the benefit of parole.”
Hayes, dressed in a white linen shirt, was then handcuffed, shackled and led from the courtroom, where he will begin serving his life sentence.
Hayes, a Kinston High School graduate and musician living in Raleigh, and Ackerson, also a Kinston resident, were embroiled in a contentious custody dispute over their two small children.
Hayes lured her to Raleigh on July 13, 2011, where he killed her and then — allegedly with the aid of his wife, Amanda Hayes — dismembered her body. The two then packed Ackerson’s body parts into coolers and took them to Texas in a rented trailer, where they threw those parts into a creek on and near the property of Amanda Hayes’ sister.
Outside the courtroom, Ackerson’s father, Rodger Ackerson, admitted he was a “little” relieved by the quick verdict. He was in attendance every day of the trial in Courtroom 704 of the Wake County Justice Center.
He admitted it was tough to sit and listen to all the grisly details of what happened to his daughter.
“But it would have been even tougher if (the jury) had acquitted him,” he said. “But they got the right verdict.”
Wake County Assistant District Attorney Boz Zellinger was pleased with the verdict.
“Obviously, it's just a despicable, wretched crime, and we're pleased that the jury looked at all the evidence and saw the truth in what happened,” Zellinger told Raleigh’s WRAL CBS-5.
One of Hayes’ attorneys, Jeff Cutler, admitted he was surprised at how quickly the jury returned its verdict.
“I am (surprised) a little bit,” Cutler said, “but (the jury) had the weekend to sort through (the evidence). … If they hadn’t had the weekend, it might have taken longer.”
Hayes’ other attorney, Will Durham, said his client will appeal the verdict.
“Mr. Hayes has always maintained his innocence and continues to maintain his innocence,” Durham said. “He will continue seeking whatever relief he can get. We were disappointed with the verdict.”
Next up for Wake County jurors is the trial of Amanda Hayes. Attorneys for the Hayes’ decided to split up the trials for the husband and wife pair, with Grant Hayes’ trial going first.
Rodger Ackerson said he’ll be in attendance for her trial, too, and said he had his own thoughts about Amanda Hayes’ guilt.
“In July of 2011, this man had his wife, three kids and a dead body in his apartment for three days,” Ackerson said. “He did not call the police. What is usual about that? … They had to be acting in concert, acting with each other’s permission.
“I don’t want to predict what a jury is going to do, but at the same time, neither one of them called the police. Neither one of them said, ‘Look at what he did’ or ‘Look at what she did.’ ”
Rodger Ackerson said although she’s been dead more than two years, his daughter has not yet been buried.
“I’m going to go home and bury Laura,” he said with emotion in his voice. “It’s taken this long for us to get the body back from the medical examiner.”
Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCHanks.