Billy Forte
A Criminal Court jury found 71-year-old Billy Forte guilty of second-degree murder on Friday afternoon after roughly three hours of deliberation.
Judge Barry Steelman set a sentencing date for May 19.
While being questioned after the shooting by Sgt.
Taylor Walker, the lead investigator on the case with the Chattanooga Police Department, Forte can be seen on recorded video saying, “I feel liberated. I killed in Vietnam. I killed Viet Cong, and I never felt liberated, but I feel liberated now."
Prosecutor Lee Ortwein gave the first closing argument, defense attorney Ben McGowan followed, then prosecutor Miriam Johnson had the last word.
“It does not make sense,” said Mr. Ortwein. “If you're afraid of someone you don’t go to meet them.”
Prosecutors focused on many disputable factors of their case but Mr. Ortwien centralized his initial argument on Billy Forte’s ex-wife’s testimony. Billy’s former wife and mother of Charles Forte gave testimony against Billy as a state witness then as a rebuttal witness. She told the court the shotgun was, to her knowledge, kept in a closet at their house - opposing Billy’s testimony that it was kept at Eaves Formal Wear. Billy Forte told jurors there was a fight between him and Charles in previous years that involved a gun. Ms. Forte testified that this incident never existed.
In his only closing argument, attorney McGowan said Ms. Forte has reason to be biased towards Billy and even went so far as to say she hated him. He said when he was questioning Ms. Forte, she was reluctant to answer but when prosecutors did the same she seemed to have all the answers.
“I certainly understand why Ms. Forte would hate her husband,” said Mr. McGowan. “Is there a degree of willful blindness here?”
Ms. Johnson rebutted this claim by saying Ms. Forte is the least biased because she is in the middle. She said it would be hard to choose between your son and a man you were married to for 46 years. She also said there is no evidence that Ms. Forte hated her husband. Attorney McGowan brought attention to the eyewitness and her statements. He said Nicole Pearson’s testimony has reason to be doubted.
“She admitted she doesn’t know what happened immediately before the shooting,” said Mr. McGowan. “If I was in a horrific situation like that I would want to leave as soon as possible too, but she knew the police station was right next to her house and didn’t stop. She also said Billy shot him in the back and we know that's also not true. I’m not calling her a liar but there’s reason to doubt.”
Ms. Johnson, however, defended Ms. Pearson’s decision to immediately go home and be with her children instead of stopping. She said Ms. Pearson cooperated with police and even asked them to meet her at her house to ask questions.
Attorney McGowan highlighted the quality of the investigation as another key point in his defense. He said Billy gave police information right when they arrived at the scene but instead of listening, they told him to “shut up.” Body cam footage proved his claim and officers did not immediately check for an additional gun. However, Ms. Johnson said investigators later searched the entire business and did not find evidence of another gun.
“If he was unhappy with Charles why did he wait a year and a half to fire him,” Ms. Johnson said. “Every time the defendant opened his mouth it was about money and the business; that was all he cared about, not Charles.”
Billy was originally charged with premeditated first-degree murder, but attorney McGowan said at the very least the state proved manslaughter through their own evidence. Ms. Johnson came back and said the defense was not showing the entire law.
“Premeditated is when the intent to kill was formed prior to the act,” Ms. Johnson said. “Billy made the shotgun shells that killed his son. He admitted that when he came back with the gun Charles made eye contact with him. Who instigated that? He had a duty to retreat and didn’t so you can’t argue self defense.”
Billy was taken back into police custody immediately after the trial.
Billy Forte is led away after jury verdict