Bobby Batiste was sentenced to death by the State of Mississippi for the murder of Andreas Galanis
According to court documents Bobby Batiste was stealing from his roommate Andreas Galanis. When Andreas Galanis confronted Batiste about the theft Bobby would beat the college student to death
Bobby Batiste would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Bobby Batiste is incarcerated at Mississippi State Prison
Bobby Batiste Case
Bobby Batiste, Galanis, and Jaewoo Joo were Mississippi State University students who shared an apartment at Ace 21 Apartments, an apartment complex in Starkville, Mississippi. Their apartment had four bedrooms situated off a common area that included a dining area, living room, kitchen, and laundry area. Each tenant had a key that opened the front door of the apartment and that particular tenant’s bedroom door. Events of March 6, 2008
¶ 3. The following events culminated in Deputy Charlie McVey’s discovery of Galanis’s body inside the shared apartment. On March 6, 2008, at about 1:30 or 1:40 p.m., Galanis and Bobby Batiste went to a branch of the Merchants and Farmers Bank in Starkville. A teller, Aloysius Rice, waited on Galanis, who had a checking account at the bank. Galanis cashed a $200 check and asked Rice for the balance on his account. Rice gave Galanis a one-hundred-dollar bill and five twenty-dollar bills. Rice noticed that there were a lot of debit-card transactions on the account. Rice testified that Galanis was shocked about the debit-card transactions because he did not use his debit card. Rice testified that Batiste seemed very concerned and empathetic.
¶ 4. Galanis spoke with Candace Dailey, a customer-service representative, about the unauthorized debit-card transactions. Dailey testified that Galanis and Batiste sat across from her desk; they were elbow to elbow. Galanis told her someone was taking money out of his account, he had never activated his debit card, and his debit card was in his apartment in a box. After Dailey reported Galanis’s debit card as stolen, Dailey and Galanis went over the transactions together and discovered that the total amount missing from Galanis’s account was $4,507.54. Dailey testified that Batiste was behaving like a supportive friend. Galanis left to go to class but promised to return.
¶ 5. Dailey and Rice testified that Galanis returned briefly with a young Asian man and again discussed the unauthorized debit-card transactions.
At 3:30 p.m., Galanis returned alone and waited to talk to Dailey, who was with another customer. A teller, Shannon Watson, observed that Galanis was agitated. Galanis told Dailey that Batiste had admitted that his girlfriend had been using Galanis’s debit card. Galanis had demanded that Batiste return the money by tomorrow, but Batiste had responded that that was impossible. Galanis told Dailey he wanted to file a police report and press charges, and he left the bank just after 4:00 p.m.
Presumably, the Asian man was Galanis’s other roommate, Jaewoo Joo. Joo did not testify because he had returned to his home country of South Korea by the time of trial.
¶ 6. Watson testified that, when she left the bank for the day at about 4:10 or 4:15 p.m., she observed Galanis and Bobby Batiste in the parking lot having a heated argument. Each was standing next to his parked car, and a cement barrier was between the cars. Watson said Galanis was speaking loudly and exhibited angry body language, and Batiste was listening.
¶ 7. Rice testified that Bobby Batiste returned to the bank lobby between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 pm. and asked how long the bank kept ATM video images. When Rice responded that the images are kept for up to a year, he heard Batiste say, “Dog.”
¶ 8. Deputy Steven Woodruff of the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department testified that, at about 5:00 p.m., Galanis made a complaint at the sheriff’s department to the effect that he had noticed money missing from his checking account.
Events of March 7, 2008
¶ 9. The next day, March 7, 2008, was the Friday before spring break. Galanis’s mother testified that Galanis had planned to drive home to Biloxi, and then fly to Florida for a spring-break trip. When she did not hear from Galanis, she called the Oktibehha County Sheriff’s Department and asked for a deputy to go to Ace 21 Apartments to check on him. That afternoon, shortly before 5:00 p.m., McVey went to Ace 21 Apartments in response to the call.
¶ 10. McVey testified that, when he arrived at Galanis’s building, many students were packing up and leaving for spring break. Bobby Batiste was standing next to a green Ford Explorer that was backed up to the sidewalk in front of the building. The Explorer’s rear hatch door was open. McVey told Batiste that he was there to check on Galanis. Batiste, who was smiling and seemed to be in a good mood, said “well, that’s my roommate.” Batiste told McVey that Galanis had left that morning with a friend, who was going to drive him to Biloxi. Bobby Batiste pointed to Galanis’s car, and said that it was broken down.
¶ 11. McVey called the sheriff’s department to report what he had learned, and was instructed to check the apartment physically for Galanis. McVey knocked on the door of the apartment, and Batiste let him in. It was very dim inside. McVey asked Batiste which bedroom belonged to Galanis, and Bobby Batiste pointed out Bedroom D, which was locked. McVey called the apartment’s office to get a key. He observed that Batiste was acting normally.
¶ 12. When McVey arrived at the office, Bobby Batiste abruptly pulled up in his Explorer. McVey asked Batiste to wait and let him back into the apartment. Batiste asked, “Am I a suspect?” McVey said “no,” that he was there to locate Galanis. After McVey got the key, Batiste sped back to the apartment. When McVey arrived, Batiste let him inside the apartment. With Batiste standing behind him, McVey unlocked the door to Bedroom D. He immediately saw a large pool of blood at the end of the bed. McVey testified that, at that point, he knew that everything Batiste had told him was a lie. He placed Batiste under arrest and called for backup.
¶ 13. Deputies Ford and West arrived and opened the door of Bedroom B, the unrented bedroom. They discovered the body of Galanis wrapped in blankets inside a wheelbarrow. Search warrants were obtained for Batiste’s apartment, vehicle, and person. Bobby Batiste was transported to the Oktibehha County Hospital, where Casey Hill, a registered nurse, took samples from his body and prepared a kit. Hill noticed no injuries on Batiste, but he had a blood spot on his leg.
Autopsy
¶ 14. Forensic pathologist Dr. Stephen Hayne testified that the autopsy revealed that Galanis had sustained approximately thirty-six separate external injuries inflicted with a blunt object. The cause of death was cranial cerebral trauma. Galanis’s face was severely bruised and abraded from numerous instances of blunt-force trauma. He had been struck numerous times in the face and head, and his hands had injuries consistent with defensive posturing. A blow to the upper left scalp had fractured Galanis’s skull. He had sustained multiple fractures to the left side of the skull and to the base of the skull. His right orbital plate was fractured, and he had severe trauma to the brain.
Batiste’s Statements
¶ 15. After his arrest, Bobby Batiste gave two statements at the sheriff’s department. He gave the first statement to Sheriff Dolph Bryan and Deputy Arthur Sallis. Bryan advised Batiste of his rights and Batiste signed a rights-waiver form. Batiste said that he was a criminal-justice major and he understood his rights and wanted to waive them. Batiste related his version of events to Bryan, who wrote down what Batiste said, then read it back to him and allowed him to make corrections. Batiste read and signed each page of the written statement, and Bryan and Sallis signed each page.
¶ 16. Batiste’s two statements were similar. According to the first statement, Bobby Batiste had used Galanis’s debit card with his permission, except for two charges. He stated that, the night before, he and Galanis had reached an agreement for Batiste to repay the money. Batiste had stayed at his girlfriend’s house that night. When he returned the next morning, Galanis became angry about the missing funds. Galanis came into his room, “got in [his] face,” and hit his arm. Galanis threatened to get a gun and shoot Batiste in the head. Then, Galanis took Batiste’s katana sword, pointed it at Batiste, and called him a “black bitch.” Galanis said “f—you” and jabbed the sword at Batiste, before retreating into his own room with Batiste’s sword. Batiste got his rim adaptor
out of his Explorer, put it in his book bag, went into Galanis’s room, and said “what was that [you were] saying.” Galanis jabbed at him with the sword again, and Batiste hit him with the book bag, knocking the sword out of his hand. When Galanis bent down to get the sword, Batiste hit him again. Batiste claimed that he struck Galanis three or four times. Batiste said he realized that Galanis was having a hard time breathing and he started to call 911. However, he was scared, so, instead, he bought the wheelbarrow and cleaning supplies “to try to cover up the crime but it just didn’t work out.”
The rim adaptor was a gear-shaped heavy metal object.
¶ 17. A short time later, Batiste gave a videotaped statement to Sallis and McVey. Sallis read Batiste his rights, and Batiste indicated he understood and signed a rights-waiver form. Here Batiste provided additional details. He said that Galanis had come into his room cursing and had hit Batiste’s hand. They began arguing, and Galanis said he would get a gun and shoot Batiste in the head. Then, Galanis grabbed the sword, said “f–––– you, you black bitch,” and jabbed it at Batiste. Batiste got the rim adaptor from his truck, put it in his book bag, and went to his own room. Galanis was still talking, and Batiste said “what’s that you’ve been saying again?” Galanis said “you heard, me, m–––––f–––––” and jabbed at him with the sword. Batiste knocked it out of his hand with the book bag, then struck Galanis in the head with the book bag. Galanis bent over to pick up the sword, and Batiste hit him over the head again. Galanis got back up, and Batiste hit him again. Galanis fell down, and Batiste hit him a fourth time. Although Galanis was severely injured, Batiste was afraid to call 911, so he left Galanis inside Galanis’s bedroom with the door closed and went to his girlfriend’s house. This was at about 9:25 a.m. He returned at about 11:00 a.m. and checked on Galanis, who had not moved. He “panicked” and began a clean-up effort. Batiste bought a wheelbarrow, paint, cleaning fluid, and towels. He wrapped up the body and put it in the wheelbarrow in the empty bedroom. Batiste admitted that he removed Galanis’s wallet from his body. He put his own clothes, the wallet, the book bag, and rim adaptor in a bag and put the bag in his truck. He was about to put the body in the truck when he was interrupted by McVey.