Mississippi v. Luke Woodham
School Shooting Trial Opens
HATTIESBURG, MISS., June 10 -- Testimony was emotional in the first day of Luke Woodham's school shooting trial as eyewitnesses to the incident relived the rampage.
Jurors heard chilling testimony from 19 witnesses, mostly students, who described how Woodham entered the commons area of Pearl High School on Oct. 1, 1997 and opened fire on the students in the area. One of the most dramatic moments of the day came from assistant principal Joel Myrick, who subdued Woodham at gunpoint after the incident. Myrick described how he had heard gunshots that day and saw students running as bodies lay everywhere. He said he went to his car, retrieved his handgun, and loaded it. When Myrick returned, he waited until Woodham exited the school and went to his car. Woodham then ran the car into a tree. According to the witness, he then approached Woodham, pointed his gun at him, told him to drop his weapon and exit the car. Myrick then searched Woodham for other weapons and asked him why he had gone on his shooting rampage.
"Mr. Myrick, the world has wronged me," Woodham allegedly told Myrick. "And I just can't take it anymore." Then, in a bizarre twist, Woodham reminded Myrick that he had given the assistant principal a discount on his pizza a few nights earlier. (Woodham worked in a pizza restaurant.)
One male student's came to the stand and suggested that Woodham's friend (and co-defendant) Justin Sledge knew about Woodham's plans before the shooting. This student described how just before the incident, Woodham approached Sledge and whispered in his ear. Then Sledge walked away, took the student with him and told him not to look behind him, no matter what happens next. Moments later, the student said, he heard gunfire.
Another student, Jerry Safeway, testified that he dove to protect his girlfriend when Woodham started firing. As Safeway lay on the ground, he felt a stinging in his leg; he had been shot. Woodham, Safeway said, stood over him and apologized for shooting him. He did not mean to hit him. Then, Safeway testified, Woodham reloaded his rifle.
Perhaps the most emotional testimony came from a friend of Christina Menefee, Woodham's ex-girlfriend and one of the casualties. She described how Woodham was allegedly obsessive about Menefee and how he became angry when she hung out with her girlfriends. At one point during her testimony, when asked to identify Woodham and rifle he used, the female student could not face Woodham or stare at the murder weapon without breaking into tears. Many of the shooting victims showed the jury the wounds they suffered.
Despite the emotion of the courtroom, Woodham appeared stoic, staring directly at the jurors and witnesses. While members of his family were not present in court, the mothers of Menefee and the other casualty, Lydia Dew, sat together and consoled each other.
The final witnesses called today were three officers who arrived at the scene and arrested Woodham. One officer testified that Woodham appeared "excited," as if he had just won a fight after the shooting. According to the officer, when asked why he had fired upon his fellow students, Woodham said that he was tired of being called a "fat motherf___er." One officer also revealed for the first time that Woodham allegedly said he intended to kill a student named Alan Westbrook, who apparently liked to tease the defendant.
The jury may see Woodham's videotaped confession to police when court resumes Thursday morning. Woodham's defense concedes that he is responsible for the shooting but was insane at the time of the incident.
Reported by Court TV's Helen Lucaitis and Laura Citrin.
top of page
|
