GINN GUILTY OF MURDER: Sister testified he intentionally ‘finished the job’
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Ginn, 27, dropped his head into his hands as family members and friends broke into tears behind him just before noon Thursday when Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley read the verdict. Jurors deliberated for an hour and a half after hearing two days of testimony concerning the fatal March 31, 2002 stabbing.
“A little difference in the facts could have put it down to manslaughter,” said Public Defender Dan Bryant. “The jury did a good job. This was a hard case.”
The defense had hoped jurors would consider self-defense as a motive in the killing, repeatedly reminding jurors it was Webb who went to Ginn’s home in the middle of the night to confront his longtime friend. The exact cause of the confrontation was never revealed, although prosecutors hinted a controversy over meth may have been the spark which blew up into the fatal battle.
Bryant pointed out Webb had terrorized Ginn’s family before Ginn went outside armed with a knife to reportedly defend his family home. The defense noted Webb came to the trailer at 3 a.m. and began yelling obscenities and banging on the windows, challenging Ginn to come outside and fight.
However, District Attorney Dale Potter told jurors Ginn went past self-defense and into the realm of murder.
Specifically, prosecutors pointed to the testimony of Ginn’s sister, Brandy George, who testified Webb was still alive after the first round of stabbings. However, after being informed Webb was still breathing, Ginn picked up a long Bowie knife off the deck railing and stabbed the defenseless victim again to make sure he was dead.
Forensic Pathologist Dr. Thomas Deering would later testify he believed one of the final stab wounds, inflicted while the victim was defenseless, was what immediately caused his death. Of the 19 stab wounds, Deering said two wounds to the back of the neck, which hit the victim’s spinal cord, were what probably caused his near immediate death. He had also sustained wounds to the back, chest and neck regions, with one wound hitting his jugular vein which, given time, would have also probably killed Webb.
Along with the gap in time between the stabbings, prosecutors were also quick to point out Ginn tried to stage the crime scene by removing Webb’s gun from the victim’s car and firing a round into his own trailer. Investigators convinced Ginn to admit the staging after discovering the angle of the bullet hole could not have been made by Webb as Ginn first claimed. Ginn would later claim he believed Webb had a gun on his person, prompting him to begin the knife attack. Ginn said when he discovered Webb did not have a gun on him, he panicked and staged the scene to make it appear Webb had opened fire.
Also playing against Ginn were calls he made from Warren County Jail in which he seemed to lack remorse.
“He got what he had coming,” Ginn can be heard telling one friend during a phone call. Ginn also went on to tell another friend that Webb was “lifeless” when he conducted the second round of stabbings while the victim was bleeding on the ground.
The defense had hoped to divert the damage done by Ginn’s actions by presenting several friends who testified Webb had been known to pick on Ginn. Bryant pointed out Webb had gone to Ginn’s home after threatening him harm. Bryant also brought Ginn’s 70-year-old grandfather, Harold Bowdoin, who owned the trailer in which Ginn lived, to testify he was overcome with fumes from a bottle of charcoal lighter Webb threw through the door just before the fatal stabbing.
In light of the findings, Potter said he was pleased with the outcome.
“I have no complaints at all with the jury,” Potter said. “Given the facts, and the gaps in time between the stabbings, we felt it best to let a jury decide.”
Potter said he believes the fact the victim showed up in the middle of the night outside Ginn’s residence was likely what convinced jurors to find him guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. He was originally charged with first-degree murder.
Sentencing will be held June 11. Ginn faces 15 to 25 years in prison for his conviction. He will remain held without bond until sentencing.