Prosecution, defense rest cases in Van Buren man's murder trial

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- The prosecution rested its case Thursday against a Van Buren, Mo., man accused of gunning down a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper, and the defense rested after calling one witness.

The Carter County jury will begin deliberations today in the case of Lance D. Shockley after hearing closing arguments.

The jurors will be asked to decide if the 32-year-old is guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the 2005 death of Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. and felony leaving the scene of an accident. The trial was moved to Howell County from Carter County, where Shockley and Graham both lived. Shockley could face the death penalty if convicted.

The state has alleged Shockley's motive for killing Graham was a Nov. 26, 2004, fatal crash in which Shockley is accused of fleeing the scene. Graham, who was found dead March 20, 2005, after he finished work that day, was the investigating officer.

On the fourth day of the trial, the jury heard from multiple witnesses, including a highway patrol sergeant who interviewed Shockley after Graham's death. It also heard testimony about a red Pontiac Grand Am seen near Graham's residence the day he was killed.

Sgt. Jeff Heath told the jury about interviews he had with Shockley.

In the first interview, at about midnight March 20, 2005, Shockley said "he didn't kill Sgt. Graham," Heath said.

Assistant attorney general Kevin Zoellner asked if Shockley had been asked about that. The sergeant said no, Shockley had only been asked about what he'd done earlier in the day and with whom.

Another interview was in a patrol car March 23, 2005, as Shockley was being transported from Malden to Carter County following his arrest on a warrant for leaving the scene of an accident.

"I asked Lance if you know what this is all about," Heath said. "He said, 'Killing Sgt. Graham.'"

On cross-examination, Shockley's attorney, Bradford Kessler, asked: "Did he ever say he killed Sgt. Graham?"

No, Heath said.

Shockley's grandmother, Mae Shockley, who lived in a trailer near his residence, said he borrowed her two-door, red 1995 Pontiac Grand Am around noon March 20, 2005.

At 4:18 p.m., she said, she saw her grandson return home.

Highway patrol Sgt. Scott Stoetling said Mae Shockley initially told police she didn't lend her car to her grandson the day Graham was killed.

When confronted with statements from another witness contradicting her story, she admitted to letting him borrow the car, Stoeling said. At that point, she said he returned home between 4 and 4:30 p.m., nearer to 4:30. He said she never reported it was 4:18 p.m.

On cross-examination, Kessler questioned Stoetling about the differing times in his reports as to when Shockley returned home.

In one interview, Stoetling said, Mae Shockley said 4 and 4:30 p.m., nearer to 4:30 and in a second interview, it was "around 4:30" p.m.

Graham, Kessler said, finished his shift at 4:03 p.m., with the first shot being fired shortly thereafter and the other two shots fired within 15 minutes. Officers, he said, determined the shortest route from Graham's house to Shockley's house was 14.4 miles and took about 18 minutes to drive.

"If he was at [his grandmother[']s] trailer between 4 and 4:30, he can't be some place else?" Kessler said.

"Yes, he can," Stoetling said, citing that Mae Shockley told him it was around 4:30, inferring it could have been a little on either side of 4:30 p.m. The 18-minute time, he said, was based on driving the speed limit.

Saw red car

Van Buren residents Rick Hamm and Lisa Hart testified to seeing a red car parked near Graham's house.

Hamm said he first saw the car between 3:45 and 4 p.m. when he drove into Van Buren. He said it was parked on the wrong side of the road. The car, Hamm said, was still parked there when he returned from town about 15 to 20 minutes after and again after that when he went to town a second time.

When shown photographs of Mae Shockley's Grand Am, Hamm couldn't positively identify it as the car.

Lisa Hart said she had her husband look at a house on that road March 20, 2005, arriving there at 1:46 p.m. She reported seeing a 1990s Pontiac Grand Am parked in the same manner and location as described by Hamm. It was still there, she said, when they left between 3 and 3:30 p.m. She said she later identified Mae Shockley's Grand Am as the car she saw.

The prosecution rested its case after calling 35 witnesses.

The defense called one witness, Roger Hart.

Roger Hart's testimony was similar to his wife's in regard to the time and location of the red car. In a written statement, he said, he wrote there "could have been" an L or M on the license plate. The Grand Am's plate had neither letter in it.

On cross-examination, Roger Hart said that when he saw the Grand Am at a Missouri Department of Transportation shed, he told his wife he had been "wrong about the license number."