Robert Whittenburger enters court
A man charged in the axe murder of his girlfriend and her mother told a Criminal Court jury in Winchester on Wednesday that he still can't remember details of the grisly incident.
Robert Whittenburg is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, and is alleged to have used an axe to hack Deanna and Dedra Lawrence to death on Nov. 30 2017.
The slayings were at Pikeville in Bledsoe County, but a change of venue was granted to Franklin County.
Robert Whittenburg characterized he and Dedra Lawrence’s relationship as full of conflict, but also as inseparable.
“She was my whole world, and we were inseparable when I wasn’t at work.
I couldn’t even walk the dog by myself without her wanting to be there with me,” Whittenburg said. “She was as sweet as could be, but could also be hateful. She’d punch me in the face, throw me off the bed. I’d try to either restrain her or walk away.”
Whittenburg reiterated the account he gave to TBI agent Herron a few days after the incident. A day before their deaths, Dedra Lawrence had found some phone numbers, and she hit him because she thought they were other women’s. He said she calmed down after a while. And then when asked about the night everything happened, he said he was unable to remember.
“I can’t remember anything else….it’s all a haze,” Whittenburg said. “I’ve tried but I can’t. I want to know why I lost the love of my life. I can’t come up with any other memories.”
Attorney Sam Hudson asked him if he believed he was responsible for their deaths. He answered by saying that he never planned to hurt either Deanna nor Dedra, but once again concluded he was the only person to blame.
“I guess I have to, I was the only one there.”
Prosecutor Steven Strain questioned how Whittenburg could remember every event of the day, even down to what he ate for dinner (a burrito) and the reason he got off work early (a co-worker’s family member was in the hospital) but not remember what happened during the most crucial part. Whittenburg said having a transcript of the interview for three and a half years has helped him remember.
A few minutes later, Whittenburg again seemed to conclude that he was one who killed the two women, while at the same time believing he was not the one who killed the Lawrences. Prosecutor Strain sarcastically asked the defendant “Are you telling me space aliens came in there and did it?”
“I don’t know who else could have done it,” Whittenburg later said, before saying that he also did not admit guilt when he interviewed with Agent Herron, stating, “I was being very truthful, but very confused.”
TBI agent Keith Herron said Whittenburg did not speak to any officers before he gave a recorded interview, and that the defendant’s timeline of events matched up with further investigations.
Defense attorney Hudson said, “He could have made up anything, he could have told you that Deanna and Dedra were physical with him and caused him to do that,” while prosecutor David Shinn said, “The proof is what he did say, not what he could have said.”
Attorney Hudson continued to emphasize that his client did not come up with a wild story, and he asked agent Herron “throughout his 50-minute statement, you were never able to catch him in an inconsistency with what he did that night?”
While agent Herron affirmed this, he also pointed back to the previous recorded statement, where Whittenburg said, “It had to be me” when asked about what happened. The defense said that was more of a conclusion than an admission of guilt, and said the TBI could not know who picked up the axe or weapons during the events of that night.
“Suffice it to say, you investigated, saw blood and two dead bodies, and you don’t know who the primary aggressor was,” stated attorney Hudson.
Chip Andy, a TBI investigator who collected evidence from the crime scene and took samples, said he collected blood samples and hair from the axe, as well as items with RBS (reddish-brown stains) from around the residence. He said he found a knife and boxcutter with RBS and sent them in to be looked at. He said he had no role in the investigation aside from collecting evidence.
TBI forensic scientist Charley Castlebuono took that evidence and examined it for DNA. She said most samples had DNA from either Whittenburg or the Lawrences, including a glove found at the residence.
“This is a blue rubber glove from the kitchen,” Ms. Castlebuono said while pointing to a picture. “I tested four different stains and swabbed inside to see who may have been wearing the glove.”
She said the blood matched Dedra Lawrence and Whittenburg. The knife had Whittenburg’s DNA on several places, and the boxcutter did as well. She said the handle of the axe had Dedra Lawrence and Whittenburg’s blood and DNA, and the claw of the axe had Deanna and Dedra Lawrence’s DNA.
“With blood being a liquid, it is possible it could be wiped off by friction or more blood,” Ms. Castlebuono said when asked about why certain parts of the axe did not have both victims' DNA and blood despite it apparently being used on both victims.
Physician Emily Dennison did the autopsy for both women and gave a detailed account of the report and what each wound meant. Deanna Lawrence had multiple chop and stab wounds, including a fatal one to the back of her neck.
“There was a chop wound that penetrated into the soft tissue of the neck,” Dr. Dennison said. “That’s where a ligament connects the skull to the spine, and the wound severed the skull from the neck and severed the brain stem.”
Dedra Lawrence had “more significant injuries” than her mother according to the doctor. She said the wounds were sustained while the victim was alive, as the witness told the prosecutor that the body reacts a certain way when it sustains an injury.
“That chop wound penetrated into the skull,” Ms. Dennison said, pointing out different injuries from her report displayed on a projector. “Wound number 13 is another chop wound that went into the scalp, through the muscle, and through the skull and into the brain.”
She said both women had drugs such as methamphetamine and marijuana in their system at the time of their death. However, she told both prosecution and defense that she had no way of knowing how those drugs affected the women. The state then rested and attorney Hudson brought on his first witness.
The defendant’s mother Mary Ellen Whittenburg, said her son loved Dedra Lawrence, but that they often fought. She recalled a particular fight where she heard the conflict and saw her son come downstairs wounded. She said the couple lived with her for a few months in the summer of 2017.
“I heard a lot of screaming and things being throwed downstairs,” Ms. Whittenburg said. “I saw him limping downstairs when he wasn’t limping when he went upstairs.”
The defense rested their case, and the court will start again on Thursday morning for closing arguments, jury instructions, and the beginning of deliberations.