Eight fatally shot near Appomattox VA-Gunman Christopher Speight Surrendered
Nut44x4:
Autopsy: Speight allegedly shot victims multiple times
By STEPHANIE A. JAMES/Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 10:17 AM EDT
Recently released autopsy reports indicate that most of the victims who died as a result of the shooting rampage in January suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Six of the eight victims were shot multiple times, according to the autopsy reports filed with the Appomattox County Circuit Court in June.
Christopher Bryan Speight, 40, faces capital murder charges for his alleged role in the deaths of eight people.
Speight is accused of fatally shooting his sister Lauralee Sipe, his brother-in-law Dwayne Sipe, his nephew Joshua Sipe and his niece Morgan Dobyns, who all shared a residence with Speight on Snapps Mill Road in Appomattox County.
The other four victims of the shooting were Jonathan and Karen Quarles, Emily Quarles and Ronald "Bo" Scruggs.
Autopsy reports from the medical examiners office in Roanoke revealed that at least one of the victims was shot with both a handgun and a rifle.
The reports also indicate that the shots were fired at close range and distant range.
According to the autopsy reports, Lauralee Sipe, 37, suffered 11 gunshot wounds. Law enforcement officials discovered Sipe dead in the living room of the Snapps Mill Road residence she shared with Speight.
Blood found on the camouflage pants that Speight wore during his January 20 arrest matched his sister's, according to a May report from the Western Laboratory in Roanoke.
Sipe's husband 38-year-old Dwayne Sipe, who was also found in the living room, suffered nine gunshot wounds.
The Sipes' 4 year-old son Joshua Sipe, who suffered four gunshot wounds, was found at the top of the second floor stairs of the home.
Jonathan Quarles, 43, suffered four gunshot wounds and was found alive in the road in front of Speight's home. He later died.
Karen Quarles, 43, suffered three gunshot wounds and was found on the porch of the home.
Fifteen year-old Morgan Dobyns was also discovered on the porch of the home and suffered two gunshot wounds.
Both Emily Quarles and Ronald Scruggs suffered a single gunshot wound.
Scruggs was found on the ground of the driveway at the residence while Quarles was discovered inside a parked vehicle in the driveway.
At least half of the victims suffered fatal wounds to the back or the head, according to the autopsy reports.
Around noon on January 19, law enforcement officials were alerted to the shooting victims after a passerby discovered one of the victims laying in the middle of the road.
A manhunt for Speight was initiated as Speight concealed himself before surrendering the morning of January 20.
During a pursuit for Speight, Speight allegedly shot at a Virginia State Police helicopter forcing the pilot, Sgt. Don Childs, into an emergency landing.
When Speight surrendered to law enforcement officials 18 hours later, he confessed to an investigator that he shot all eight people.
In April, Speight was indicted on nine charges, including three capital murder charges, attempted murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felon, and discharging a firearm in an occupied structure.
Currently, Speight is at Central State Hospital in Petersburg for treatment to have his competency restored after it was determined two weeks ago that he was currently incompetent to stand trial.
It was determined that Speight was incompetent and unable to help his two attorneys so that they can craft a defense strategy.
Detailed in a motion for competency filed by Speight's attorney, Neil Horn, he described Speight's behavior.
In early May, the defense mitigation investigator David Williams visited Speight at the Lynchburg Adult Detention Center and noticed that Speight had a "gaunt appearance, he had obvious weight loss, full body trembling and an overall agitated and fearful demeanor," wrote Horn in the motion.
Horn further wrote that Speight "detailed how he was being tortured by other entities that were battling over him and he demanded the torture to stop. The speech was rapid and he was not focused. He went into detail about hallucinations. He described being "zapped" causing pain and burning sensations throughout his body. In order to harm him the entities used computers and artificial intelligence."
The court filing also states that Speight switched from first person to third person and "appeared to have exchanges with other entities and at times did not seem to be aware of Williams' presence. His speech was laced with profanity, something (Speight) had rarely done in any prior meeting."
Speight also appeared to not know why Williams was meeting with him.
Horn informed the court that due to Speight's behavior he could not rationally discuss the case with him as a result Horn filed a competency motion so that Speight can be evaluated for competency.
During a competency motion hearing in May, Commonwealth's Attorney Darrel Puckett argued that the prosecution did not contend that Speight is incompetent.
However, Judge Richard Blanton ruled that Speight be evaluated for competency.
Last month when the results of the competency evaluation came back, Judge Richard Blanton ordered that Speight be treated at a state mental hospital.
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2010/07/08/appomattox/news/news30.txt
MuffyBee:
http://www2.newsvirginian.com/news/2010/aug/03/accused-appomattox-shooters-attorneys-seek-lynchbu-ar-411252/
Accused Appomattox shooter's attorneys seek Lynchburg jail recordings
August 3, 2010
APPOMATTOX, Va. --
Lawyers for a Spout Spring man charged with capital murder in the slayings of eight people hope to get a court order Monday for recordings made of him at the Lynchburg Adult Detention Center.The defense lawyers have asked for the surveillance recordings as possible evidence to support claims that he is insane and to be used as mitigation if he is convicted.
Christopher Speight, 41, was arrested Jan. 20 after an overnight standoff with police officers and deputies at the 3030 Snapps Mill Road home he shared with his sister and her family. Speight was indicted in April on three counts of capital murder, one count of attempted capital murder of a police officers, four counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony and one count of shooting in an occupied dwelling.
The murder charges include Speight's sister, her husband and daughter, three neighbors and a teenage boy. He is also accused of shooting down a Virginia State Police helicopter during the Jan. 19 massacre. According to a search warrant affidavit filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court in February, Speight confessed to the slayings when he was arrested.
Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Les Fleet said Tuesday that he believes the hearing will only take a few minutes. Fleet said he expects Appomattox Circuit Judge Richard Blanton to sign off on a subpoena requesting the records from the jail and to sign another order granting the defense lawyers access to prosecution evidence.
"I do not anticipate (Speight) being there. He is still at Central State," Fleet said, referring to the hospital Blanton ordered Speight to be sent to in June after a psychologist evaluated him and found him incompetent to stand trial.
To meet the legal standard of competency, Speight must be sane enough to understand the court proceedings and to help his lawyers prepare his case.
In letters to the court, defense lawyer Neil Horn wrote that Speight has delusions he is being tortured, hallucinates and is unable to communicate with him about the case.
In a June 29 letter to Blanton requesting action on the items expected to be resolved in Monday's hearing, Horn wrote, "I must note that my conversations with (forensic psychologist Evan) Nelson gave me the impression that the defendant's treatment to restore his competency will take months."
Although he was out of the office Tuesday, Appomattox Commonwealth's Attorney Darrel Puckett said in an earlier interview that he expects Speight's competency to be restored by the end of the year.
MuffyBee:
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2010/08/12/appomattox/news/news31.txt
Speight's lawyers to get video, audio of jail stay
August 11, 2010
An Appomattox County judge on Monday granted a request to allow jail records to be seized to assist the defense of accused murderer Christopher Bryan Speight.
Speight's lawyers requested the records in front of Circuit Court Judge Richard S. Blanton to obtain jail records from the Lynchburg Detention Center that would indicate evidence of mental illness or disorder of their client
During a motion hearing on Monday, there were four motions granted involving the release of evidence.
Neil Horn, one of Speight's attorneys, said that the defense is looking to obtain any evidence such as medical records, recordings and survelliance from the time he entered jail in January until June.
Speight, who faces capital murder charges, is currently at Petersburg-based Central State Hospital and is being treated to have his competency restored.
On June 24, Speight was declared incompetent to stand trial shortly after he had his competency evaluated.
Medical personnel are to make the court aware of Speight's condition if they believe that his competency has been restored.
Commonwealth Attorney Darrel Puckett said that the court does not expect to hear back about Speight's condition until December, which would be a total of six months from the time that he entered in Central State.
In May, Speight's attorneys filed a motion to have his competency evaluated after he told the defense mitigation investigator that he was having hallucinations and he displayed an inability to help his attorneys with the case.
The filing came one month after Speight was indicted on charges of capital murder, attempted murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felon, and use of a firearm for his alleged role in the shooting deaths of eight people.
The shootings occurred January 19 at Speight's Snapps Mill Road residence that he shared with his 37-year-old sister, Lauralee Sipe, her husband, Dwayne, 38, and Speight's 15-year-old niece Morgan Dobyns and his nephew Joshua Sipe, 4.
All were gunned down, along with other victims 43-year-old Karen and Jonathan Quarles, their daughter, Emily Quarles, 15 and Bo Scruggs, 16.
Speight confessed to fatally shooting all eight people during an interview with an investigator after his arrest on January 20.
On January 19, law enforcement officials arrived at Speight's residence after receiving a 911 call about a wounded man lying in the middle of the road in front of Speight's residence.
Three of the victims were found dead inside of the home while the four others were found outside of the residence.
Speight was deemed a suspect and a manhunt ensued as he concealed himself on his property.
During a pursuit of Speight, he allegedly shot at and hit a Virginia State Police helicopter several times forcing Sgt. Don Childs into an emergency landing.
Speight eventually surrendered 18 hours later.
Law enforcement officials have not commented on a possible motive.
MuffyBee:
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-story-achs-memorial-garden-081910,0,2530772.story
(with video)
Memorial Garden Honors Slain Students
Appomattox Co. High School built a garden in honor of slain students
August 19, 2010
APPOMATTOX, Va. —
Appomattox County high schoolers Ronald "Bo" Scruggs, Emily Quarles and Morgan Dobyns and five others were shot and killed in January.
Christopher Speight, 41, was charged with capital murder in the case but has not gone to trial.
The murders rocked Appomattox County High School.
Bo, Emily and Morgan would have been entering their senior, junior and sophomores years, respectively, at Appomoattox County High School on Monday.
Their murder last January prompted other students to design a Memorial in their memory.
"They were kids. I mean, why did that happen to them? That shouldn't have happened to them," said senior Jonathan McFadden, a classmate of Scruggs.
"People still talk about them, and they'll talk about them forever. But it was painful to see everyone greiving and crying over it," remembered Kelsey McKinney, who graduated from ACHS in May.
Months later that grief turned into action with the creation of a Memorial Garden at the high school.
The garden has new landscaping, a fountain, and bricks lining the walk-way, which include the 28 names of students and teachers from Appomattox County High School who have been killed over the school's 36 year history.
(snip)
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