DEATH FOR BIXBY

Decision made in less than 2 hours

February 22, 2007

By MIKE ROSIER and CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writers

ABBEVILLE — Jurors left with Steven Vernon Bixby’s life in their hands Wednesday afternoon and returned in just one hour and 15 minutes with his death sentence.
With their final act as jurors — a sentence recommendation to Tenth Circuit Judge Alexander Macaulay — 12 men and women from Chesterfield County ensured that (barring appeals) Bixby, 39, would pay for the Dec. 8, 2003, murders of Abbeville Sheriff’s Sgt. Danny Wilson and Constable Donnie Ouzts with his own life as the currency.
As a loud knock was heard from the door leading to the jury deliberation room about 5:15 p.m., members of the gallery began scurrying for seats.
Security poured into the courtroom, including armed Abbeville County Sheriff’s deputies and plainsclothes State Law Enforcement Division agents.
No outbursts or angry movements would be tolerated — by anyone.
Macaulay accepted the sentencing sheets from the jury foreman and read the results to the courtroom: “Death” for Steven Bixby, for the murder of Sgt. Danny Wilson.
“Death” for Steven Bixby, for the murder of Constable Donnie Ouzts.
Bixby took the news in absolute silence.
Later, the only remark the defendant made after being sentenced to death and 125 years in prison (for the other charges including kidnapping and conspiracy) was a simple “Thank you, your honor.”
“Yes!” could be heard upon the reading of the sentence in the death of Wilson. Heads bowed and tears flowed. Macaulay then read the sentencing in the Ouzts indictment.
More tears followed, as eyes looked skyward.
Macaulay thanked the jury for its service, and justice took her leave.
“You’re just happy to see that justice was done,” Eighth Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace told reporters outside the courtroom. “If you’re going to have the death penalty, this case had to end up with a death penalty sentence. “It’s satisfying to know that you’ve done the best that you can do. It’s hard to say that you’re happy when someone receives death, but we’re satisfied that we did everything we could do to present our case.
“The families have waited a long time for this day. They deserved this day.”
And suddenly, the whirlwind that was the Steven Bixby double-murder trial — with each new session bringing more riveting testimony and emotion-tugging evidence than the previous one — quieted nearly as quickly as it had blown into town.
Seven days after it began, it was all over.
Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin, who shed tears of his own when a video of Danny Wilson’s funeral was played for the jury on Tuesday, said the punishment fit the crime.
“We thank the jurors for listening to the facts and evidence,” he said. “I think the solicitor’s office did a great job prosecuting the case. Justice was done. The sentence that the defendant received was definitely the sentence that was appropriate for the act.”
The family reaction to the death sentences, however, will be felt forever.
“I’m pleased with the (sentence),” said Destiny Wilson, Danny Wilson’s 19-year-old daughter. “Steven Bixby got his wish. He wanted to ‘live free or die,’ so he got his wish.”
“I’m excited and glad that it’s over,” said Blake Ouzts, grandson of Donnie Ouzts. “I finally feel that my granddad’s and Danny’s souls can finally rest in peace. I can sleep a little better now.”
One of the key witnesses in the trial, Abbeville resident Dana Newton, said she hoped the sentences allowed for some sort of closure for the families.
“I really hope that all this helps the families to be able to have some peace and some closure,” she said. “I’m glad for them.”
Passionate closing statements — for and against a sentence of death for Bixby — were argued by solicitor Jerry Peace and Charles Grose, lead defense attorney and chief public defender for Greenwood County.
Peace went first, saying that at one end of the spectrum was mercy and vengeance was at the other end, with himself standing right in the middle of them both — on a “a rock called justice.”
“One the one end is mercy, but I’m not going to ask for that, I’m going to let the defense ask for that,” he said. “Vengeance and retribution are at the other. I’m standing in the middle on a rock called justice.
“Danny Wilson deserved mercy. Donnie Ouzts deserved mercy. They got death. I ask you for justice. In this case, the defendant has taken too much.”
Grose said, “Danny (Bixby) and his older brothers and sisters are who they are in spite of their mother. Steven Bixby is who he is because of his mother,” and added that a punishment of life in prison would fit his client.
Wednesday’s testimony opened with a pair of expert witnesses who said Steven Bixby was afflicted with something called Narcissistic Personality Disorder with paranoid and schizo-typal traits.
Dr. Richard Frierson, of the Medical University of South Carolina, took the stand first.
Frierson — who noted he was not retained by the defense or prosecution, but rather was ordered to perform duties for the court by Macaulay — formulated an evaluation of Bixby and produced a full-sized suitcase on Wednesday filled with notes, letters, reports and documents pertaining to Bixby.
He said he has met with Bixby seven times since Aug. 16, 2006.
Frierson diagnosed Bixby as having Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and said the double murderer has a “grandiose sense of self-importance.”
Frierson detailed portions of letters Bixby had written to Alane Taylor as examples of this sense of importance. He said Bixby fantasized about being found not guilty and winning a huge settlement from the state. Bixby also wrote that he would have taken money from such a settlement and opened resorts in Vermont or Myrtle Beach.
Frierson revealed after having read other letters authored by Bixby that stated he would one day be the sheriff of Abbeville County once acquitted. He also wrote another letter in which he said he planned to run for governor after his would-be acquittal.
Macaulay — who released Bixby to be moved to the Lexington County Detention Center — also set a date for Bixby’s death. That date is April 22, 2007.
It’s improbable the sentence will be served that quickly.
Death penalty sentences traditionally take years to be carried out, following a chain of appeals. Grose said the defense team for Steven Bixby will be filing a motion for a new trial.
“We will be filing new trial motions (within 10 days),” he said. “If that fails, then we will be filing an appeal,” An official appeal filing doesn’t have to take place until 30 days following a March 5 date that has been set aside for post-trial motions. Appeals are automatic in the case of death penalty sentences.

Jurors speak out after trial

February 22, 2007

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

The first time the jurors in the Steven Bixby double-murder trial were able to let go came on Sunday, when the 12-men and women released their caged emotions during the jury’s first deliberation.
Their second opportunity came Wednesday, when Tenth Circuit Judge Alexander Macaulay finally discharged them from their duties following back-to-back recommendations of death for Steven Bixby.
Two of the jurors spoke with The Index-Journal on Wednesday evening. Outside the courtroom for good, they were free again.
“We’re just kind of decompressing right now,” a female juror said. “The alternates haven’t had an opportunity to talk with the rest of us about (the case), so we’re trying to get it out of our systems. Not being able to talk about (the case) during the trial was very hard.
“We’ve tried to find things to talk about and we’ve gotten to know each other very well.”
One male juror shed tears of his own upon leaving the courtroom.
“I feel relieved,” he said. “I had a good cry once it was over. It was very emotional for all of us. I was really proud of all of us from Chesterfield County.
“By reading the facts after the decision, we definitely feel that we made the right decision. I feel that justice was served.”
The jurors took their responsibility in the trial to heart.
“We had to take this very seriously,” the female juror said. “A man’s life was at stake in this case. We hated to pass the (death) sentence, but there was really no option.”
While each juror The Index-Journal spoke with said the court readings of certain portions of several letters authored by Steven Bixby and sent to Alane Taylor were integral to the case — and their eventual decisions — there were other factors considered.
“The letters helped a lot, but the questions that were raised by the pathologist (Dr. Brett Woodard) took some time,” the female juror said. “We just finally came to the conclusion that (Wilson) just walked up and knocked on the door. Mr. Arthur Bixby had to be close to the door (answering it) in order to lose his hearing when the shot was fired.” “In my opinion, the biggest thing that hurt (the defense) was the letters that (Steven Bixby) wrote,” the male juror added. “He essentially convicted himself. He just came right out and said that he did it. He seemed quite proud in multiple letters. It made my mind up, and helped some of the others.
“(The letters) cleared up a lot of questions.”
Despite the fact the jury only needed about three hours to decide both guilt and the proper sentence in the case, there were fiery moments.
“There was some debate and it was not a smooth decision,” the male juror said. “It was heated at times, but we allowed everyone to say how they felt. We just had all these pent-up emotions and we just turned them loose at first.
“Once that’s over with, you can talk and come to some conclusion.”
“There were four (jurors) in the room during the first phase that we really had to go through and deliberate and discuss this with,” the female juror said. “It was tense at times. Some were very strong in their beliefs, some were borderline like me and some were just like ‘I don’t get it.’”
And as much discussion and time was spent debating the issue of property rights, the importance of land never resonated with the jury.
“The land thing was not even an issue for us,” the female juror said.
What did draw very strong opinions among the chosen 12 were the thoughts surrounding one singular person — Rita Bixby. “The devil incarnate,” said the female juror when asked her thoughts on the Bixby matriarch. “We were sent out and then we came back in and all of the sudden (Rita) was sitting there and we’re like (makes a sound of shock). She was a character, that’s for sure.”
“In my opinion she’s the crux of the whole matter,” the male juror replied after being posed with the same question. “She’s the focal point of all this and responsible in my opinion for a lot of what had happened.”
In the female juror’s opinion, the defense attempted to place the blame for the shootings on everyone but the man who actually fired the shots.
She says that strategy made selecting the death penalty easier.
“The defense really tried to state that maybe Arthur was the one that fired the shot(s),” she said. “Then, once we found (Steven) guilty they tried to say that it was all Rita’s fault. At no time was Steven ever held responsible for his own actions, and that made the death penalty easier for us.”
She also questioned Wednesday’s “frontal lobe” defense — bringing expert witnesses to testify that Steven Bixby suffered from a Narcissistic Personality Disorder with paranoid and schizo-typal traits.
Each member of the jury will leave Abbeville with his/her own lasting memories.
“The part of that hit me the hardest was watching the video (of Danny Wilson’s funeral) and seeing a man (Sheriff Charles Goodwin) of that size and that stature break on the stand while the video was going through that final (911) call,” she said. “That got all of us.”
“Everything that the other brother (Daniel Bixby) is having to deal with was tragic for me,” the male juror said. “The way the brother turned out — having been raised in the same house — that was a tough way to grow up.”
The female juror wished to address two witnesses directly to whom she felt her heart go out during the course of the trial — South Carolina Department of Transportation employee Drew McCaffrey and Abbeville Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Marion Johnson.
“I do hope that somewhere in all this that (McCaffrey and Johnson) find some peace,” she said. “This is in no way their fault. You could see that in them. (McCaffrey), bless his heart, he was just trying to do his job. You could see that it weighed so heavily on them.”
Understandably, following over a week of “captivity” the jurors are quite anxious for the lengthy drive east back to Chesterfield County.
“We’ll just be real glad to get back,” he said. “Everyone in Greenwood (where the jury was sequestered during the trial) was great, but we’ll be real glad to get back to our homes.”
The female juror also leaves with something else.
“At first, when I heard the New Hampshire motto — “Live Free or Die” — and all that, I was definitely feeling the vengeance that the solicitor talked about (in Wednesday’s closing statement),” she said. “In the end, I felt very sorry for Mr. (Steven) Bixby. He’s a very pathetic man and doesn’t even have the sense to know it.”

Obituaries

Rev. Hilton Johnson

PICKENS — Rev. Richard Hilton Johnson, 67, husband of Nancy Smith Johnson, passed away Feb. 20, 2007 at Cannon Memorial Hospital.
Born in Spartanburg County, he was a son of the late Richard Henry Johnson and Louise Pruitt Johnson. Rev. Johnson was a graduate of James F. Byrnes High School and Wofford College, attended Erskine Theological Seminary and Duke University. During his 37-year ministry he served O’Neal United Methodist Church in Newberry, Lowell Street United Methodist Church in Greenwood, Barnwell-Siloam United Methodist Church in Barnwell, Grace United Methodist Church in Pickens and several other churches in Spartanburg, Laurens and Aiken Counties.
Surviving in addition to his wife are a daughter, Courtney Foster and husband, Neal of Columbia; sister, Ruby Bailey of Welford; and several nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by two brothers, Robert and Fred Johnson.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 23, 2007 at Grace United Methodist Church in Pickens. Burial will follow at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Spartanburg.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation, Office of Development, 1501 NW 9th Ave., Bob Hope Road, Miami, Florida 33136-1494
Online condolences may be made by visiting www.dillardfunerals.com.
Dillard Funeral Home is assisting the family of Rev. Johnson.

Lucy McGill

Lucille Arnold McGill, 74, of 106 LaPort Drive, widow of Douglas C. McGill, died Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007 at her home.
Born in Laurens, she was a daughter of the late John Allen and Frances Vinson Arnold. She was retired from Monsanto (now Solutia), was a member of the Greenwood Moose Lodge and Harris Baptist Church.
She was preceded in death by a sister, Magnolia Cogdill and two brothers, John Allen Arnold, Jr. and Robert Arnold. Surviving is a daughter and son-in-law, Roxanne and David Sears of Greenwood; a sister, Margaret Alexander of Greenwood; three grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Harley Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. David Milcher, the Rev. Barry Butler and Ms. Noahleen Berry officiating. Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be Albert Ashley, Mike Howington, Randy Wood, Mark McDonald, Jimmy Brock and Todd Howington. Honorary escort will be Clarence Cogdill.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. The family is at the home.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Wyonia Williams

Mrs. Wyonia Williams, wife of Easby Williams, died at the Hospice Care of the Piedmont on Feb. 18, 2007. She was born in McCormick County on Oct. 2, 1948, a daughter of the late John and Annie Ruth Quarles Chiles. She was a member of Springfield Baptist Church in Edgefield County, a homemaker and a 1970 graduate of McCormick High School.
Survivors are her husband; one daughter, Kimberly Gary of North Carolina; three sisters, Pecolia (Tommy) Hines of El Paso, TX, Roberta Williams of Bradley, SC, and Corrie Chiles of McCormick, SC; two brothers, Willie Clarence (Elaine) Chiles and Rufus (Ollie) Chiles, both of McCormick; and one grandchild; a devoted caregiver, Mr. Rueben Jackson of Greenwood, SC.
Services are Friday at 2 p.m. at Walker Funeral Home Chapel, with Bro. Rufus Chiles officiating. Interment is at Springfield Baptist Church cemetery.
The family is at the home of a sister Ms. Corrie Chiles in the Oaks Apartments in McCormick. Walker Funeral Home, directors.

For two schools in Greenwood,
having bowling teams is ...

Right up their lane

February 22, 2007

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

The Cambridge Academy Cougars bowling team just completed its inaugural season with the help of coach Lynn Isenhower and the staff at Expo 300.
Isenhower said that the actual idea to start a bowling team came from the students.
“Some of the kids at school who are not involved in a winter sport started meeting on Fridays just to bowl for fun,” Isenhower said. “They asked if I would help them get a bowling team started. We then began talking with the bowling alley (Expo 300).
“It was really kid-driven.”
Isenhower said that she also went online to get information on competitive bowling from the United States Bowling Congress, the supervisor of high school and collegiate bowling, on how it would work.
“We were able to get it started with the help of Expo 300 and that kind of grew from there because we found out that Hopewood Academy (coached by Deborah Starks) had a team,” Isenhower said. “We had three varsity matches with Hopewood because they were the only team close that we found. It’s actually good for them because it’s their first entry into varsity sports of any kind. So they were real excited to find somebody else who had a bowling team.”
Isenhower said that she is sure that there are kids at the other Lakelands schools who would like to participate at the club level and she is looking forward to the future of the sport in the Lakelands.
“It was a learning process, and I’m glad it’s small at this point because the kids were able to learn the structure,” Isenhower said. “We saw what worked and what things you have to look out for and how to explain it to other teams that might want to get involved in this for next fall. Expo 300 is really eager and willing to help schools get started.
“Maybe some time in the future we’ll spread across the state.”
Shelley White, a youth coach at Expo 300 who worked with the two area teams, said that competitive bowling at the prep level is something that can continue each year. She added that there are a host of reasons why more schools should participate.
“There are a lot of scholarships that they can get later on,” White said. “I look for other schools to possibly start participating within the next two years. The money’s there, it’s just a matter of getting the kids on the lanes and learning the process so they can do it.”

Securing the border first a priority in any solution

February 22, 2007

There was a time when illegal immigration to this country was considered a national issue. That has changed dramatically in recent times. There has been such an influx of immigrants to just about every community in South Carolina that it’s now a local issue. The same is true for every state.
There hasn’t appeared to be much of an effort to seek solutions to a problem that is getting more serious with every passing year. Members of the Palmetto State’s congressional delegation have agreed that it’s a high-priority issue.
Nothing beyond the talking stage has been done, though. State officials aren’t doing any better, either.

SOME TALK THE TALK, AS THEY say, but not many walk the walk. At least, there hasn’t been any visible or audible signs of anyone in Columbia trying to find a solution.
One thing is certain, however. The people, in general, have shown there is a level of concern that politicians apparently haven’t latched on to yet. From all appearances, the number one thing on their list of needs is to secure the border first and work on the rest of the problem after that.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made that point the other day in Mexico City. Let’s hope officials on both sides of the border were listening ..... and will heed his words.

MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES need to secure their common border before Congress approves an immigration accord, Chertoff said. He acknowledged that focusing on security puts “horrible pressure on the border patrol,” but said Americans must be convinced the border is safe before they back a plan to grant more immigrants legal passage to the U.S.
That’s about as straight as anyone can get on the immigration situation. He’s right, too. There seems little doubt that most South Carolinians would join a majority of Americans who put border security at the top of the “to-do” or “should-do” list. If Chertoff can see it, why can’t those elected to do something see it ..... and do it?