Berry trial, day three

Michelle James
Register-Herald Reporter

May 20, 2009 10:20 pm

— Jurors listened to recordings of a 911 call Wednesday as well as to a statement given to police where accused murderer Rodney Jason Berry confessed to the shooting deaths of ex-girlfriend Martha Mills and her fiancé, Zack Worthington.
“I believe I killed them both, ma’am,” Berry told the Fayette County 911 dispatcher. “I believe I did.”
The recordings were part of day three of the murder trial of Berry, 27, of Minden, who is accused of shooting Mills and Worthington in the parking lot of her Bradley apartment just before 1 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2006.
In his 911 call, Berry told the dispatcher he had gone to Raleigh County to see Mills, who he referred to as his girlfriend.
Berry said he “snapped” when he saw Mills pull into the parking lot with Worthington.
“I know I sound like a brutal murderer, but I’m very sorry,” he told the dispatcher.
Berry, whose mother was heard sobbing in the background, told the dispatcher Berry would like to confess to police and asked the dispatcher to send officers to the home he shared with his parents.
The dispatcher was asked, several times, to make sure to advise officers that Berry was unarmed and would not resist.
In his confession to then-Cpl. Jim Bare of Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department, Berry explained his relationship with Mills and told Bare his account of the event leading up to the shootings.
Berry said he and Mills had been dating, on and off, since Nov. 6, 2000.
Mills was married in 2002, but Berry said she divorced the next year and the couple had dated after that, had been back together since October and had even had sex as recently as Nov. 27.
Although Fred Mills testified Tuesday that his sister and Worthington had visited him and his mother from about 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, Berry said Mills called him at 11:20 p.m. and told him she and her brother had gone to a comedy club in Charleston.
A short time later, Berry said, he believed Mills was back at her apartment and decided to go for a visit.
Mills failed to answer her apartment door, however, and Berry said he decided to go for a drive, thinking she might have fallen asleep on the couch and might soon wake up.
Berry said he returned to the apartment and knocked again when he saw Mills’ truck, with Worthington in the passenger seat, pull into the parking lot.
Mills, Berry said, exited the truck, and when he asked, she informed him Worthington was just a friend.
Berry said he could tell by Mills’ face and the way Worthington “cowered away” that was not the case.
“I know it’s contradictory to say I loved her more than anything,” Berry said. “(But) I saw her and that guy and I snapped. I pulled the gun and started firing.”
Berry said most of what happened was a blur, but added he remembered firing through the windshield, opening the passenger door of the truck and firing again at Worthington.
Mills, he said, rushed up behind him and grabbed his coat.
“I turned and fired and she fell ...” he said, adding he remembered blood splattering onto his father’s truck. “I immediately left.”
In his confession, Berry said he had asked Mills if she wanted to see other people but she had responded that she did not.
“If she would have said, ‘I want to date this guy,’ I would have said ‘OK,’” he said, explaining the problem occurred when she lied.
Berry said he had never seen Worthington before and the only thing he remembered about him was “him kind of cowering down and that’s the last time I remember seeing his face.”
Berry also apologized to the deputies, telling them he was “sorry they had to see that (the murder scene).”
“I’m sure it was a mess,” he said.
Bare, who is now a sergeant and detective, also took the stand.
In her opening statement, Prosecutor Kristen Keller said she would prove that Berry “laid in wait” for the victims, a claim disputed by the defense.
When asked when Mills and Worthington would have been able to see Berry’s yellow SUV, Bare said he couldn’t say with certainty, but said because of the other parked vehicles, “probably not until she started to pull into her spot,” which was directly beside where Berry had parked.
“The persons who could have told us that are deceased,” Bare said. “(But) unless a person was specifically looking, I don’t think they would have noticed it until they came up on it.”
Defense attorney Michael Griffith questioned Bare on that subject and also suggested eyewitness Angela Canaday, who lived in the building across from Mills, could not have seen the shooting, as she previously testified.
“There was plenty of light for Ms. Canaday to see 100 yards to where the shooting took place, but it wasn’t possible for Ms. Mills to see this big yellow truck?” Griffith asked Bare.
“Yes, sir,” Bare responded.
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Fayette County sheriff’s Detective Glen Chapman, who was the first officer at the Berry residence, testified, showing jurors pictures he took of evidence at Berry’s home.
Chapman said Berry, whom he described as “very calm and straightforward,” cooperated with him when he arrived on scene.
Jurors saw pictures of two semiautomatic handguns, one on the bottom bunk bed in Berry’s room and the second on a cushioned chair just beside the bed.
Also, jurors saw photos taken in Berry’s bedroom that showed two gun racks — with four guns each — as well as a quantity of guns stacked in a corner.
A photograph of a yellow Toyota SUV that was parked in Berry’s driveway showed blood splattered on the driver’s side door as well as on the side mirror.
Griffith pointed out model airplanes and cars as well as toys and action figurines that were also on display throughout Berry’s room.
Matthew White, a firearms and toolmarks expert, testified cartridge casings collected from the scene were fired from one of the two pistols Berry allegedly took with him.
Ronnie Prince, the firearms instructor from whom Berry received certification in 2003, told jurors that although he didn’t specifically remember Berry, in the safety course he instructs, he never mentions using a “backup” gun, which Berry said he always carried.
The trial continues at 8:30 a.m. today with defense witnesses.
— E-mail:
mjames@register-herald.com

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