Darryl Turner was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murder of Barbara Wilson
According to court documents Darryl Turner would break into the home of Barbara Wilson. The woman would be sexually assaulted and murdered before her home was robbed
Darryl Turner was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Where Is Darryl Turner Now
Darryl Turner is incarcerated at Holman Prison
Darryl Turner Case
The State’s evidence tended to show that on February 21, 1996, Angela Anderson discovered the nude body of her mother, Barbara Wilson, in Wilson’s home in Limestone County. The coroner testified that Wilson had been smothered to death. There was evidence that intercourse had occurred before the victim’s death. Wilson’s 1993 Cadillac automobile and a 19-inch Orion brand television were missing from her residence.
Anderson testified that on February 21, 1996, she took her two-year-old daughter, Rosalyn, to stay with her mother while she accompanied a sick friend to a local hospital. Later that same day Anderson attempted to locate her mother but was unsuccessful. She testified that she was not worried because she thought that her mother might have gone to Nashville to visit Wilson’s brother, who was sick. Anderson testified that the next morning when she was working she realized that her mother may have left her a note at her home. She left work and went back to her mother’s house; as she approached the driveway Rosalyn ran out of the house saying that her grandmother was sleeping. Rosalyn led Anderson to her mother’s dead body-Wilson was lying on a bed in one of the bedrooms in the house. Anderson telephoned emergency number 911.
At the time of Wilson’s death she had been living with L.T. Southard. Greg Coleman, Turner’s uncle and his roommate, was a coworker of Southard’s at Stinnett Construction. Southard testified that on the day of Wilson’s murder he had been called to a job in Birmingham and Coleman had accompanied him. The two were gone overnight. He identified the television and the Cadillac as belonging to Wilson.
Gail Reasonover, an employee of a pawnshop in Athens, Alabama, identified Turner as the individual who pawned a 19-inch Orion brand television on February 21, 1996. Reasonover testified that Turner said that he was pawning the television because he needed money for gasoline.
Police were able to locate Turner with the help of his mother. Turner was found in Louisville, Kentucky, hiding in a house, in a closet under a pile of clothes and blankets. Turner confessed to police that he was involved in Wilson’s murder. He said that Trent Rainey and Chris Harris were his accomplices.1 Turner confessed that the three men walked to Wilson’s house and asked if they could use her telephone. He said that as he was walking to the telephone he heard a noise, looked around, and saw Harris standing over Wilson and Rainey “tying Wilson up.” Turner said that he did not have sex with Wilson but that he saw Rainey and Harris on top of her. Turner told police that Harris held a pillow over Wilson’s head because she was kicking and fighting.
Tavares McCurley, Chris Harris’s cousin, testified that on February 21, 1996, Turner came by his house and asked him to go with him to “get a lick”-meaning, he said, to go rob someone. He declined. McCurley said that Turner then walked to the back of the house to talk with Chris Harris. He said that the two talked for about 20 minutes and that they left together. McCurley said that sometime later that same day Turner came back to his house and told him to look out the window. McCurley said when he looked out he saw Wilson’s Cadillac parked in front of the house. McCurley testified that Turner told him that he had “killed the bitch.” He told McCurley that he killed her because he did not want her to tell police what they had done.
Rodger Morrison of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences testified that he had conducted DNA testing on the vaginal swabs collected from the victim. He testified that in his opinion, he could exclude Harris, Rainey, or Southard as the source of the sperm, but that he could not exclude Turner.
The jury convicted Turner of two counts of capital murder and of robbery, theft, burglary, and rape. After the jury returned its verdicts, Turner became highly emotional and began yelling obscenities in front of the jury. Turner met with his attorney and his family and waived his sentencing hearing before the jury.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/al-court-of-criminal-appeals/1401992.html
