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Jurors hear videotape account of Carnes’ murder on first day of testimony
By VANESA BRASHIER
The trial of Jason Lewis Turner began in Coldspring this week in the courtroom of the Honorable Judge Robert Trapp. Turner is accused of the March 8, 2007 murder of Barney “B.B” Carnes.
The state began its case with witnesses who spoke of such things as how the body of Carnes was found, how the scene was secured and who conducted the collection of evidence.
Kathryn Wooten, Carnes’ caretaker at the time of his murder, testified about finding his body on the afternoon of March 8, 2007.
“He was in his recliner,” she told the nine-woman, three-man jury. “It was obvious he was not okay. I called his name and he didn’t answer so I went outside.”
She called a friend of hers, who also happened to be a neighbor of Carnes. The friend, Robin Griswold, and her husband, arrived at the house to confirm what Wooten had already discovered — that Carnes was indeed deceased.
At the trial, Griswold testified that at first she thought Carnes was drunk, then she saw the gunshot wound to Carnes’ chest and noticing that his skin was cold and clammy.
The testimony that followed Griswold was like a who’s who in local law enforcement. The list of those who testified included San Jacinto County Sheriff Lacy Rogers, Former SJCSO Captain Alvin Wyatt (who is now a reserve officer), Texas Ranger Ron Duff and Detective Catherine Wick. All spoke of their involvement with the investigation and each answered questions about procedures in these types of investigations.
One of the more interesting testimonies came from Sid Curtis, an Entergy worker who disconnected Carnes’ electricity on the day of his murder. Curtis testified to arriving at the house at 3:45 p.m. to turn off the meter and having spoken to Carnes briefly about the situation.
Curtis also spoke about having been dispatched back to Carnes’ house three or four hours later, only to be stopped by police who were investigating Carnes’ murder. At around 9 p.m. that night, police finally allowed the power to be turned back on.
Next on the witness stand was Randy Lewis Griffin, who works for Performance Trucks in Cleveland. On the day of the murder, Griffin was clearing land on the property adjacent to Carnes’ home.
“I was getting off the tractor to fix the skid when I heard a gunshot,” said Griffin. But being familiar with East Texas, where the sound of guns being fired is not a rare occurrence, Griffin paid little thought to the sound of the gunshot.
Griffin watched as a man wearing a dark jacket and baseball cap exited Carnes' home with a shotgun tucked under his arm. The man reportedly walked to a black car, backed it up to a barn, loaded some items up in the trunk and then took off down the road.
Griffin said the car was distinctive because of the noise it made going down the highway. He also testified that the car “had unique star hubcaps.” He was able to identify the car from a photo he was shown in court.
The pieces in DA Bill Burnett’s well-planned prosecution appeared to fall in place further when Donald Evans was called to the witness stand.
He talked about a friendship he had with Jason Turner, a friendship that was betrayed when Turner allegedly broke into Evans’ house while he was away in early March 2007. Three guns were stolen, one of which is believed to be the gun used to kill Carnes.
He confirmed to the jurors that he, like Griffin, had seen Turner driving a black Chevy Cavalier.
Evans also told the jurors that his neighbors had told him they had seen the same black car at his house at the time of the robbery, but this portion of his testimony was stricken from the record because it was hearsay.
All of the witnesses to testify, who needed to identify Turner, were able to do so, save one. Shellie Flurnoy, who operates Galloway Motel in Livingston, could not identify Turner in the courtroom, but he had an interesting tale to share.
He talked about renting a room to a man going by the name of Jason Turner. After renting the room, he watched as the man unloaded several rifles from the back of a car. Flurnoy called Polk County police to file a report because he said he was concerned.
The testimony that followed Flurnoy was made by an employee of Bear Creek Grocery and Feed (who talked about Turner using Carnes’ credit cards to buy cigarettes and alcohol) and Bobby Slade (who talked about his son’s car — the black Chevy — being stolen by Turner right before the murder).
Turner was arrested in Smith County after being pulled over in the stolen car. Not long after his arrest, he made a videotaped confession of his crimes to Texas Ranger Kenny Ray, who was the final witness on Tuesday.
The jurors watched the full hour of the confession while Turner appeared uninterested in all that was taking place around him.
At the start of the videotaped interview, Ray read Turner his Miranda Rights and had him sign a card verifying that he understood those rights. Ray said that never once during his confession did Turner ask for an attorney to be present or for the interview to stop.
As the interview began, Ray had Turner recite his driver’s license number, his Social Security number and his prison inmate number for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
“You want the one before that?” Turner was heard asking Ray before blurting out another TDCJ number.
“How about the one before that?” he asked the Ranger. In total, he listed three TDCJ numbers, proof that Turner has had some problems in the past.
After Turner had finished reciting the final TDCJ number, he seemed to want to assure the Ranger that he was okay with confessing his crimes.
“I know I am never going home again,” he said.
He then began talking about breaking into a home in Coldspring to steal three guns. The types of the guns seemed to match the ones that Evans said were stolen from his home.
“Later that night, I went to BB Carnes’ house and did a little work for him,” said Turner, adding that he and Carnes had become friendly, even sharing beers and cigarettes.
Turner then began talking about the day that Carnes was killed.
“I’ve been high as a kite and I ain’t gonna lie to you,” he told the Ranger in that 2007 interview.
“What made you decide to shoot Barney?” the Ranger asked.
“You know what? I wanted his guns. He had about $8,000 in guns,” answered Turner.
On the day Carnes was killed, Turner had spent an hour with the man, even helping him to look up the number to the power company to have his service reconnected.
“I killed Barney around 4 o’clock...we started working on getting his lights turned on. About 15 minutes later, I killed him," he said.
“I came inside the house, loaded the gun and shot him...He was sitting in his recliner. That sounds cold-blooded, doesn’t it? I kicked his book to make sure he was dead,” Turner continued.
Turner said he then walked out of the house and loaded up Carnes’ guns into his car.
When asked about the guns, Turner responded by saying, "I didn’t really know a lot about guns. I just know how to shoot them,” he said.
“Were you planning to do more burglaries?” asked the Ranger.
“I might have killed someone else. We might be best friends and I come to your house and kill you. I need help. Something is wrong with me,” he said.
As the interview wound down, Turner told Ranger Ray that by making the confession he was trying to make amends.
“I know I am never going home. I am probably going to get the electric chair or the needle,” he said.
The trial will resume on Wednesday in Coldspring. The Advocate hopes to keep readers informed of the proceedings.
The state began its case with witnesses who spoke of such things as how the body of Carnes was found, how the scene was secured and who conducted the collection of evidence.
Kathryn Wooten, Carnes’ caretaker at the time of his murder, testified about finding his body on the afternoon of March 8, 2007.
“He was in his recliner,” she told the nine-woman, three-man jury. “It was obvious he was not okay. I called his name and he didn’t answer so I went outside.”
She called a friend of hers, who also happened to be a neighbor of Carnes. The friend, Robin Griswold, and her husband, arrived at the house to confirm what Wooten had already discovered — that Carnes was indeed deceased.
At the trial, Griswold testified that at first she thought Carnes was drunk, then she saw the gunshot wound to Carnes’ chest and noticing that his skin was cold and clammy.
The testimony that followed Griswold was like a who’s who in local law enforcement. The list of those who testified included San Jacinto County Sheriff Lacy Rogers, Former SJCSO Captain Alvin Wyatt (who is now a reserve officer), Texas Ranger Ron Duff and Detective Catherine Wick. All spoke of their involvement with the investigation and each answered questions about procedures in these types of investigations.
One of the more interesting testimonies came from Sid Curtis, an Entergy worker who disconnected Carnes’ electricity on the day of his murder. Curtis testified to arriving at the house at 3:45 p.m. to turn off the meter and having spoken to Carnes briefly about the situation.
Curtis also spoke about having been dispatched back to Carnes’ house three or four hours later, only to be stopped by police who were investigating Carnes’ murder. At around 9 p.m. that night, police finally allowed the power to be turned back on.
Next on the witness stand was Randy Lewis Griffin, who works for Performance Trucks in Cleveland. On the day of the murder, Griffin was clearing land on the property adjacent to Carnes’ home.
“I was getting off the tractor to fix the skid when I heard a gunshot,” said Griffin. But being familiar with East Texas, where the sound of guns being fired is not a rare occurrence, Griffin paid little thought to the sound of the gunshot.
Griffin watched as a man wearing a dark jacket and baseball cap exited Carnes' home with a shotgun tucked under his arm. The man reportedly walked to a black car, backed it up to a barn, loaded some items up in the trunk and then took off down the road.
Griffin said the car was distinctive because of the noise it made going down the highway. He also testified that the car “had unique star hubcaps.” He was able to identify the car from a photo he was shown in court.
The pieces in DA Bill Burnett’s well-planned prosecution appeared to fall in place further when Donald Evans was called to the witness stand.
He talked about a friendship he had with Jason Turner, a friendship that was betrayed when Turner allegedly broke into Evans’ house while he was away in early March 2007. Three guns were stolen, one of which is believed to be the gun used to kill Carnes.
He confirmed to the jurors that he, like Griffin, had seen Turner driving a black Chevy Cavalier.
Evans also told the jurors that his neighbors had told him they had seen the same black car at his house at the time of the robbery, but this portion of his testimony was stricken from the record because it was hearsay.
All of the witnesses to testify, who needed to identify Turner, were able to do so, save one. Shellie Flurnoy, who operates Galloway Motel in Livingston, could not identify Turner in the courtroom, but he had an interesting tale to share.
He talked about renting a room to a man going by the name of Jason Turner. After renting the room, he watched as the man unloaded several rifles from the back of a car. Flurnoy called Polk County police to file a report because he said he was concerned.
The testimony that followed Flurnoy was made by an employee of Bear Creek Grocery and Feed (who talked about Turner using Carnes’ credit cards to buy cigarettes and alcohol) and Bobby Slade (who talked about his son’s car — the black Chevy — being stolen by Turner right before the murder).
Turner was arrested in Smith County after being pulled over in the stolen car. Not long after his arrest, he made a videotaped confession of his crimes to Texas Ranger Kenny Ray, who was the final witness on Tuesday.
The jurors watched the full hour of the confession while Turner appeared uninterested in all that was taking place around him.
At the start of the videotaped interview, Ray read Turner his Miranda Rights and had him sign a card verifying that he understood those rights. Ray said that never once during his confession did Turner ask for an attorney to be present or for the interview to stop.
As the interview began, Ray had Turner recite his driver’s license number, his Social Security number and his prison inmate number for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
“You want the one before that?” Turner was heard asking Ray before blurting out another TDCJ number.
“How about the one before that?” he asked the Ranger. In total, he listed three TDCJ numbers, proof that Turner has had some problems in the past.
After Turner had finished reciting the final TDCJ number, he seemed to want to assure the Ranger that he was okay with confessing his crimes.
“I know I am never going home again,” he said.
He then began talking about breaking into a home in Coldspring to steal three guns. The types of the guns seemed to match the ones that Evans said were stolen from his home.
“Later that night, I went to BB Carnes’ house and did a little work for him,” said Turner, adding that he and Carnes had become friendly, even sharing beers and cigarettes.
Turner then began talking about the day that Carnes was killed.
“I’ve been high as a kite and I ain’t gonna lie to you,” he told the Ranger in that 2007 interview.
“What made you decide to shoot Barney?” the Ranger asked.
“You know what? I wanted his guns. He had about $8,000 in guns,” answered Turner.
On the day Carnes was killed, Turner had spent an hour with the man, even helping him to look up the number to the power company to have his service reconnected.
“I killed Barney around 4 o’clock...we started working on getting his lights turned on. About 15 minutes later, I killed him," he said.
“I came inside the house, loaded the gun and shot him...He was sitting in his recliner. That sounds cold-blooded, doesn’t it? I kicked his book to make sure he was dead,” Turner continued.
Turner said he then walked out of the house and loaded up Carnes’ guns into his car.
When asked about the guns, Turner responded by saying, "I didn’t really know a lot about guns. I just know how to shoot them,” he said.
“Were you planning to do more burglaries?” asked the Ranger.
“I might have killed someone else. We might be best friends and I come to your house and kill you. I need help. Something is wrong with me,” he said.
As the interview wound down, Turner told Ranger Ray that by making the confession he was trying to make amends.
“I know I am never going home. I am probably going to get the electric chair or the needle,” he said.
The trial will resume on Wednesday in Coldspring. The Advocate hopes to keep readers informed of the proceedings.
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