Body Hunter (21 page)

“Yes.”

Macha had successfully connected the saliva-traced cup taken by John Little from the Olney Door and Screen Factory to the sperm found in the bodies of Sims and Gibbs. He dismissed his witness.

There was no cross-examination by the defense.

“The State calls Glen Unnasch,” Macha said.

“I object, Your Honor,” Curry announced. “This witness is going to testify to matters I have previously objected to. I would like the record to so reflect.”

“Your objection is so noted and overruled,” Judge Brotherton responded.

Unnasch, a supervisor with the Latent Fingerprint Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, testified that he had been asked to examine a pair of shoes submitted to him by the Wichita County DA's office.

“I used a dye-staining technique,” Unnasch said. “When the amino dye came in contact with the blood, it turned a reddish brown or black to enhance it. I photographed the print first, then took additional photos of the print after it was stained. Then I began the comparisons.”

Unnasch pointed out the fingerprint on the left side of the heel of Sims's left shoe as the print he tested.

“Did you take prints from a man on March 12, 1999?” Macha asked.

“Yes, from the man at the end of the table in the light blue shirt,” Unnasch answered.

“Did you compare those prints to the tennis shoe print?” Macha inquired.

“Yes. After comparing the latent print of the shoe and Mr. Wardrip's prints, I determined he was the only one who could have left that print,” Unnasch said.

“Was the print left in blood?” Macha asked.

“Yes, what appeared to be blood from the amino black testing,” Unnasch responded.

The DPS fingerprint examiner then told the jury that he had compared the various ridges of Wardrip's print and the print from the shoe.

“I'm one hundred percent sure the print was left by Faryion Wardrip. His left middle finger, the third joint,” Unnasch stated.

Macha then had his witness stand before the jury and show them where the fingerprint had been left on Sims's shoe. He indicated the location by pointing to Macha's shoe as the district attorney held his leg in the air.

As with the DNA evidence, Macha had successfully linked the bloody fingerprint on Sims's shoe to the defendant.

Neither Curry nor Glickman had any questions for the expert witness.

Chapter Twenty-six

John Little was called to return to the stand.

“After the arrest of Faryion Wardrip, did you file a probable cause affidavit with the appropriate court?” Macha asked his investigator.

“Yes.”

Macha had Little tell the jury that the local media had been given a copy of the affidavit, which included DNA evidence that linked Wardrip to Sims. The information had been subsequently released to the public.

“On February 16, 1999, did you receive a call from Captain Foster at the jail annex?” Macha questioned.

“Yes. I was in my office. Captain Foster advised me that a couple of jailers said when they were escorting Wardrip to his cell he told them he wanted to speak to ‘John, the DA guy.' He also said, ‘He better get out here before I change my mind,' ” Little testified.

Little related how he and Paul Smith had driven south of Wichita Falls to the jail annex to talk with Wardrip. As they met in the jail library, Wardrip told them he had talked to his wife that morning, then decided he wanted to talk to them. Little advised him of his Miranda rights and asked if he wanted an attorney. When Wardrip waived his right to an attorney, Little had again given him the Miranda Warning. He then recorded the interview on audio tape.

“Were all the statements given without inducement?” Macha asked.

Little shot a quick glance to Wardrip, then answered, “Yes.”

“Did he knowingly and voluntarily waive his rights?” Macha queried.

“Yes.”

Macha asked that State's Exhibit Number 133-A, the audio confession, and State's Exhibit Number 134, a written transcript of the audio confession, be admitted into evidence.

The usually quiet Curry once again objected to the admission of the evidence for the record. Judge Brotherton acknowledged the objection, but again overruled the defense.

John Little remained in the witness chair facing the jury with a copy of the transcribed confession in his hands. Across from him sat Barry Macha with another copy of the transcript. Hearts of the victims' families raced as they anticipated the reading of Faryion Wardrip's statement. They had been reliving the events of their loved ones' deaths for the past three days. Now, with John Little and Barry Macha reading the confession to the jury, they would have to endure the horrors again, through Wardrip's own words.

“ ‘Okay. Faryion, what I would like to do is just kind of go back to the beginning in your own words and start the events surrounding December 21 of 1984, if you would. This would be in reference to the death of Terry Sims,' ” Little read his own words to the jury.

Macha responded by reading Wardrip's words from the confession. “ ‘I don't recall the dates to be exact. I do know at that time I was under heavy drugs. Intravenous drugs caused a lot of dysfunctional activities in my life. All it did was create hate in my heart and I was out walking, actually walking home, and I had been in a fight with my ex-wife. Drugs had just totally taken control of my life and as I was walking, she was at her door. I went up to the door and forced my way in. Well, just ransacked her, just slung her all over the house in a violent rage. Stripped her down and murdered her.' ”

Tears welled in the eyes of Terry Sims's sisters while anger grew in their hearts as they heard the words of their sister's killer. The courtroom was silent. No one talked. No one moved. It was as though the spectators were riveted to their seats by the steely cold words of the defendant.

For the first time since his brother's arrest, Bryce Wardrip learned that Faryion had given the investigators a confession on his own. For more than nine months, Bryce had lived with the regret that he had been responsible for his brother's confession falling into the hands of the district attorney.

He'd believed that Faryion's phone call from the Wichita County Jail in which he told Bryce that he had indeed killed five women in the Wichita Falls area had been taped. With the reading of Faryion's confession, a burden of guilt was lifted from Bryce.

However, Bryce Wardrip's feelings of relief quickly turned to rage and resentment when he heard his brother imply that his family hated him. There had been nothing but loving support from their parents, even when he had been arrested and imprisoned for the murder of Tina Kimbrew. Bryce couldn't speak out. He could only sit and listen to the lies his brother had told Little and Smith.

In the pew-style bench in front of Bryce and Tina Wardrip sat the parents of Johnna Wardrip, Faryion Wardrip's first wife. Paulette and Floyd Jackson wept as their former son-in-law's words ripped at their hearts. They had done everything possible to help Faryion and Johnna while they were married, but Wardrip's drug use had stripped the couple of everything the Jacksons had given them. Although he had been abusive with Johnna on a couple of occasions, he had never raped Johnna or forced himself on her in any way. The person they heard described in court was not the one they had known. The only similarity was the blame he placed on others for his own wrongdoing.

Little continued to read passages from the transcript. He read where he turned the Wardrip interview over to Investigator Smith for questions concerning Toni Jean Gibbs. Smith had asked Wardrip if he remembered the incident.

“ ‘Yeah. Again I was out walking all night. Somehow I was downtown. It was about six o'clock in the morning. Just walking. And I started walking home, it was starting to get daylight and I was walking up towards the hospital, and Toni knew me and she asked me if I wanted a ride.' ” Macha continued to read Wardrip's confessing.

Tears fell from Jeff Gibbs's eyes. It was no comfort to know that Faryion Wardrip had only happened on his sister. Toni was showing her usual compassion by giving Wardrip a lift in the rain. He had repaid her by stripping away her vibrant life.

The confession moved from the death of Toni Gibbs to the murder of Ellen Blau as Little read questions asked of Wardrip during his disclosure.

The faces on the jury reflected the stress felt by everyone in the courtroom. It had been an exhausting, burdensome three days for the jury. Photos of dead bodies, emotionally damaged friends and families, and now the words of the killer himself were all weighing heavily on the hearts and minds of the jurors.

Luckily, Ken Taylor wasn't present in court the day Wardrip's confession was read. The stark reality of Wardrip's matter-of-fact confession may have been too much for him to endure.

Little and Macha continued to read from the transcript, pinning down the time frame in which each of the young victims had been slain. Then Macha reached a point in the confession that emotionally stirred everyone in the courtroom.

“ ‘My parents don't deserve this, my wife doesn't deserve this, my children don't deserve this, my brothers and sisters. It's because of those damn drugs and the hatred that I had in my heart. And I caused so much pain to the victims' families—but I don't want to burn in hell. God told me that, you think I'm kidding you, but He revealed why He gave my wife to me like He did for a couple of months. I asked her today to forgive me. I told her what I was going to do, not in so many words, because I know they listen, but I just asked her to forgive me. She said, for what? I said for all the lies, the lies that I told you. She said, what lies? I said because I brought you into my life knowing that this very well could happen. I didn't care, I knew I'd never get away with it. I did know that. I knew this day would happen,' ” Macha read.

Emotion overcame Faryion Wardrip as he dropped his head on the defense table and cried. His shoulders shook with each gut-wrenching sob. He covered his face with his hands, trying to hold back the flood of tears. His sobs could be heard across the courtroom and his head could be seen bobbing up and down with each painful breath he took in.

A female juror wiped tears from her eyes several times during Wardrip's torrid confession of apparent regret. A male juror covered his mouth with his hand and another stared at Faryion questioningly.

“ ‘I realized it when I went to prison the first time. I knew this day would happen. Man, but yet, I still took a wife, and she's a beautiful Christian woman. I don't know if you've ever seen her, but she's a beautiful Christian woman. She didn't deserve this. Nobody does. I don't care what happens to me. If they want to put me to death, then so be it. 'Cause I'm tired of living on this earth, tired of pain and suffering that Satan brings to people, no matter how hard you try, no matter how good of things you do . . . it always seems to mess up. If you don't follow what God tells you to do, it's going to happen to you, I guarantee it.' ”

Macha continued to read until the very last words. “ ‘Oh, my God, what have I done? I'm so sorry. My parents didn't deserve this, God, they don't deserve it.' ”

There were few dry eyes in the courtroom by the time Little and Macha completed the reading of Wardrip's confession. There were tears of sadness from the families. Tears of anger from Paulette Jackson, who believed Wardrip was blaming her daughter, Johnna, for his vicious behavior. And tears of regret from Faryion Wardrip.

Wardrip continued to cry as he removed his glasses and wiped away his tears. Tina Kimbrew's mother and cousin wept as they clutched hands. Tina's father rubbed his eyes with the back of his weathered hand. Terry Sims's sisters dabbed their eyes with tissues. Janie Ball lowered her head and left the courtroom, obviously too disturbed to hear the remainder of Little's testimony.

Barry Macha laid his copy of the powerful confession on the table. He and Little approached the jury with large diagrams that indicated the routes Wardrip had taken in each of the murder cases.

Videotapes taken the day Little and Smith had driven Faryion Wardrip around Wichita County as he pointed out how he had reached the house where Sims was killed and how he had escaped were admitted into evidence.

Judge Brotherton wisely announced a lunch recess. Everyone attending the trial needed a break. They needed to collect themselves for the remainder of the day's testimony.

 

 

At the break, Dorie Glickman approached Judy Floyd who had remained in the courtroom following her testimony.

“It's too bad Texas doesn't have life without parole,” Glickman said. She believed her client was a perfect candidate for the nonexistent penalty. He had obviously changed his life. Evidently dedicated himself to God. But the jury would have to decide between life in prison, which meant incarceration for fifteen years before Faryion would be eligible for parole, or death by lethal injection. Dorie knew in her heart that it would be difficult for any jury that had just been presented with a signed confession of five brutal murders to vote for life. She held out slim hope.

 

 

The afternoon session began at 1:40 with John Little describing the tape of the route Faryion Wardrip took to the house where Sims was murdered. The jury watched the video without expression while Judge Brotherton leaned against the wall to the right of the jury for a better view of the television set. Unable to clearly see the video, some in the audience dozed.

Macha then entered into evidence various items relating to Wardrip: his booking photo, penitentiary packet, Marion, Indiana, school records reflecting that he dropped out after the tenth grade, and his armed forces records showing he had received a “less than honorable” discharge.

Curry took several minutes to review the exhibits before stating for the court that he had no objections.

Macha stood behind the prosecutor's table and confidently announced, “The State of Texas Rests.”