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Smithson Guilty on All Charges
Bill Smithson has been found guilty of 1st Degree Murder, attempted rape, kidnapping, abuse of corpse and other related charges in the death of 23-year-old Jason Shephard.
There was a gasp from Smithson's family and friends when the verdict to the Murder One charge was read by the jury foreman.
Smithson showed no emotion and stared straight ahead as each charges were read and verdicts were announced.
GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY.
As the verdict sunk in, more and more of Smithson's friends and family began to sob.
On the other side of the aisle, Kyle and Carol Shephard, Jason's parents, hugged each other and wept quietly.
More to come.
UPDATE: Smithson now faces a death penalty hearing which will begin Monday.
A gag order is still in effect which prevents anyone involved in the case from speaking to the press. That includes family members, witnesses, lawyers and law enforcement.
There was a gasp from Smithson's family and friends when the verdict to the Murder One charge was read by the jury foreman.
Smithson showed no emotion and stared straight ahead as each charges were read and verdicts were announced.
GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY.
As the verdict sunk in, more and more of Smithson's friends and family began to sob.
On the other side of the aisle, Kyle and Carol Shephard, Jason's parents, hugged each other and wept quietly.
More to come.
UPDATE: Smithson now faces a death penalty hearing which will begin Monday.
A gag order is still in effect which prevents anyone involved in the case from speaking to the press. That includes family members, witnesses, lawyers and law enforcement.
posted by Spencerblog at
2:08 PM
4 Comments:
These verdicts restore my faith in the judicial systems in this country. Now may the sentencing of Smithson proceed smoothly and just as quickly. Plain and simple.
Hopefully the Shephard family will find some small solace in this outcome.
5+ years ago, I knew Bill Smithson. The Bill I knew then would have found the events of the last 2+ years despicable and terrible beyond belief. I'm shocked and saddened that someone who had such a zeal for life and living could have morphed into the dark character he eventually became.
As heinous as the crime that was committed, there is another crime that I see transpiring on the pages of the Daily Times and other area papers - and that is this terrible situation has only served to re-enforce the worst stereotypes that some people harbor towards the gay community. I'm angry that Jason lost his life, and horrified that my once-friend was the instrument; I hope the time Bill has spent behind bars has made him repentant, not only for the crime he committed against the Shepard's, and the pain that he has inflicted on them (not to mention his own family and friends) but also for the fear, ignorance, and injustice that will likely linger for years in the minds of those that are all too willing to paint all homosexuals with the same brush.
I am simply amazed and saddened and also frightened by how many people that were not present at the scene, nor have any insider information, nor were present at the trial or really got to hear any real truths as fifh amendment rights were utilized. Jurors that could go home and out to lunch and look up and hear all the evidence they wanted from the pages of newspapers and blogs. Sure, they are told not to, but what do you think. I saw a woman there waving to another person in the jury and giggling. If the case was never discussed, how did she know where to find him and that they were there? Be reasonable, could you possibly have friends that might have told you their opinions and perhaps your spouse as well if you were involved in a high profile case. Pray for your family, pray for yourselves, that you or your children or friends are never in the wrong place at the wrong time, or make such costly choices as being with other people that you knew or never knew were capable of such heinous behavior as Covingtons, as he waits for his trial of drugging another boy and raping him as his fifth amendment protects him appropriately but another hangs with it as a result. Know that you too, could be tried and convicted long before you ever receive your day in court. That it could mean the endless physical beatings in a prison cell and additionally, in the pages of blogs and newspapers. We must fight for innocent til proven guilty if we are to send jurors home each night. Otherwise we cannot truly serve justice. Fight for this right just in the small chance you ever need to call on it. I don't believe Christoper Reeves cared a damn about stem cell research before he needed a stem cell. Hopefully, when you need justice, careful and protected, it will be there for you. Did Bill, in panic start a chain of lies after the murder and do wrong things.
Absolutely, but that makes him shitty and other things,punish him accordingly, but it doesn't make him the murderer. No evidence proved that. There was another person there. One that has been arrested more than once. More recently for the drugging and rape of another man. How do you know? NO disrespect to the Sheaprds, I offer my deepest sympathy for them, but what homophobic person would rent bisexual porn and watch it for 22 minutes. So many questions speculative but left unanswered. Beyond a shadow of doubt--don't think so.
there is another crime that I see transpiring on the pages of the Daily Times and other area papers - and that is this terrible situation has only served to re-enforce the worst stereotypes that some people harbor towards the gay community.
You have got to be kidding. The local gay-apologist Liberal Press -the DT- did its underhanded best to protect the gays in this case by refusing to label this crime as what it clearly was: a "gay" drugging/ attemped rape/ murder. Not a single person here or elsewhere has tried to claim all gays are like this, but certainly the Libs protecting this dark and disgusting seedy side of that lifestyle is a case of Liberal misplaced sympathies and they did everyone a dishonest disservice.
what homophobic person would rent bisexual porn and watch it for 22 minutes. So many questions speculative but left unanswered.
It does not matter one bit what the boy watched on TV any more than it matter what he ate for breakfast that day. That has ZERO bearing on the fact that he was drugged, attempted raped and murdered. That was a despicable ploy introfused by the defense designed to plant that question in jurers' -and the public's- mind and it looks like it worked. It should have been stricken.
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