Where's Tank?

By Donna Swicegood

For years, as Quinn Witherspoon patrolled the streets of Concord, his company was his canine companion, Tank.
Witherspoon, who was shot to death by his wife, Misty, on Sept. 13, 2005, was remembered for his dedication to his job and to the 8-year-old German shepherd.
Concord police officers came to the Witherspoon home the day Quinn was killed and picked up Tank.
What became of the German shepherd after that is a question many people have posed during Misty Witherspoon’s nearly four-week murder trial.
Concord Police Department Deputy Chief Guy Smith said Tank is now living out his retirement years in style.
A former canine officer with the Concord Police Department and his wife, a veterinarian, have adopted the shepherd.
In the days following Quinn’s death, the department debated about Tank’s future, Smith said.
Initially, he was kept at the office of the veterinary staff that cares for Concord’s nine canines, Smith said.
The thought of placing him with another handler was briefly considered, Smith said.
“We all decided that wouldn’t be in the best interest of the dog,” Smith said.
After all, Tank was nearing 9 years old, and most police canines do not stay on active duty that long, he said.
In most instances, when a canine is retired, the handler is given the option of keeping the dog, but that wasn’t possible in this case, Smith said.
So after looking at a number of possibilities, the idea of placing Tank with the officer and his wife seemed the best answer for Tank.
Now, Tank, who will be 11 in December, has a large farm to run around on and chase squirrels.
“He’s really in a good place,” Smith said.

Witherspoon will be transferred to permanent facility

Nearly a week after a jury found her guilty of first-degree murder, Misty Witherspoon is still being processed into the N.C. Department of Corrections.Witherspoon, who received a life sentence without parole, was taken to the Women’s Correctional Institution in Raleigh, where she is likely to remain for at least a couple of months, said Keith Acree, public information officer for the N.C. Department of Corrections.
Witherspoon was convicted last Monday of shooting her husband, Quinn, in the back of the head as he slept on the family’s couch in their Mooresville home.Quinn Witherspoon was an off-duty Concord Police Department officer.
Acree said the initial phase for Witherspoon — and most female inmates convicted of a felony — is to go through a diagnostic process.
“A case manager helps determine her educational level, her social history, her family and work experiences,” he said.
She will also undergo psychological testing and a complete medical evaluation, he said.
He said she could remain in this particular phase of processing for one to two months.
At that point, a determination will be made as to the facility she will be housed in during the early part of her incarceration, he said.
Likely, because of her status as a felon, she will remain at the Women’s Correctional Institution or be transferred to the Southern Correctional Institution in Montgomery County, he said.Her housing could be a single cell or being housed with a roommate. Acree said the rooms aren’t like the cells seen on television.
“They don’t have bars in the doors or anything,” he said.
Rooms range from 50 to 80 square feet.After processing, Witherspoon will be assigned to some kind of program, either educational or work, or both, he said.
In terms of visitation, every inmate at the Women’s Correctional Institution are allowed contact visits, he said.
As a result, Witherspoon’s three children can visit if they are accompanied by an adult.
“We encourage families to visit,” Acree said. “It’s an important part of the process.”A prison inmate in close security — the highest level — generally gets up around 6 a.m., heads for breakfast and then travels to their work or school site.
At noon, inmates are allowed 30 minutes for lunch and then return to either work or educational opportunities. The workday ends at around 3 p.m., and prisoners are allowed one hour on the prison yard. At 4, they return to their cells and then have dinner at 5 p.m.The evening hours are reserved for religious activities or specialized programming such as narcotics anonymous, anger management, etc.
At 8 p.m., prisoners return to the cellblock, with lights out at 11 p.m.
Acree said televisions are generally available in common areas, such as day rooms. Prisoners are allowed to have a personal radio, but it has to have ear plugs.Prisoners can receive newspapers and mail and send mail. They are also allowed to make collect calls but cannot receive calls.
This is expected to be Witherspoon’s life for a number of years, unless her verdict is overturned at any point.
Following her conviction last Monday, her attorney, Andrew Jennings, filed a notice of his intention to appeal.
Once appeal briefs are filed, the case will be sent to the N.C. Court of Appeals, and that process is likely to take at least a year.

Despite conviction, investigators have regrets

The highest-profile murder case in Mooresville history has concluded, with local police achieving the conviction they sought.

Nevertheless, they say they could have done some things differently during the investigation -- and others agree.

For the full story, click here.

The way we see it: Justice for Quinn

The following is an editorial from the Statesville R&L.

Twelve Iredell County jurors put their lives on hold for about three weeks to help ensure that Misty Witherspoon received her day in court.

After listening to all of the testimony, viewing all of the evidence and considering the arguments of counsel for the defense and the state, the jury of eight women and four men concluded that the Mooresville woman was guilty of intentional, premeditated first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband, Quinn, who made his living as a Concord police officer.

Iredell Superior Court Judge Kim Taylor imposed the only lawful sentence at her disposal — life imprisonment without parole.

From our vantage point, justice was served.

After the verdict was announced, defense attorney Andrew Jennings speculated that the fact that the defendant admitted lying to Mooresville police detectives during the investigation played a large role in the jury’s decision.

The reality is Misty Witherspoon had zero credibility in the court of law and in the court of public opinion. Not only had she been previously convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from her church, but it was apparent from the evidence that she had been deceiving her husband about their financial affairs.

The physical evidence presented by prosecutors refuted not only her first story about accidentally shooting her husband after slipping on a children’s book, but also her subsequent claim that she had been trying to kill herself when the family’s cats startled her, causing her to accidentally shoot Quinn.

Anybody who has ever pulled the trigger on a 40-caliber Beretta knows it’s hard to accidentally pull the trigger, as the jury had the chance to do in open court. The testimony of prosecution witnesses about the proximity of the weapon to Quinn’s head and the trajectory of the bullet also cast serious doubts on her stories. The fact that the blood on the victim’s head had already begun to dry when officers arrived didn’t help her case either.

While it’s unfortunate that the Witherspoon children will now grow up without their mother, the real tragedy in this case is that Misty Witherspoon put a gun to her sleeping husband’s head and pulled the trigger, and that their children will grow up without the love and presence of their father.

The jury’s verdict in this case is a validation of the evidence presented at trial and to Officer Quinn Witherspoon’s dedication to criminal justice.

Candlelight vigil honors Quinn Witherspoon

As thunder sounded overhead and rain drops started to fall Tuesday evening, about 50 friends of a slain police officer gathered to say goodbye.

For the full story, click here.

Officers honor lost comrade

CONCORD - More than 25 Concord police officers honored the memory of slain officer Quinn Witherspoon after his wife, Misty Witherspoon, was convicted of first-degree murder in a Statesville courtroom and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

For the full story, click here.

More trial observations

Reporter Donna Swicegood observed the entire Witherspoon trial. Here are some of her observations:

Witnesses

• Gerald Childress
• Leslie Burgess, a former friend of Misty Witherspoon.
• Jeannine Sargent, human resources director for the City of Concord
• Lawanda Dean-Jones, district manager for the Statesville office of the Social Security Administration
• Pam Hartsell, Municipal Thrift Club Credit Union manager
• Scott Dennis, forensic impression analyst for the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation
• Russell Holley, forensic serologist for the SBI
• Amanda Fox, forensic biologist for the SBI
• Carmen Feaster, account services representative from Duke Energy
• Dr. Donald Jason, forensic pathologist, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
  Defense
• Dr. Page Hudson, retired state medical examiner and consultant
• Bob Witherspoon, father of Quinn Witherspoon
• Mike Drake, Concord police officer
• Pat Merritt, Concord police officer
• Brandon Ferguson, Concord police officer
• Melanie O’Connell Underwood, acquaintance of Misty Witherspoon.
• Matt Lund, former sales representative at a camping supply store
• Rob Green, retired captain with the Concord Police Department
• Frances Witherspoon, mother of Quinn Witherspoon
• Brandi Oliver, friend of Misty Witherspoon
• Ronnie Keller, father of Misty Witherspoon
• Melanie Keller, sister of Misty Witherspoon
• April Garden, legal assistant for Andrew Jennings
• Sandra Keller, Misty Witherspoon’s mother
• Dr. Jerry Noble, psychologist who interviewed Misty Witherspoon
  

The state rested its case on Tuesday, presenting 17 witnesses and more than 100 pieces of evidence. The closing for the state’s case included a representative from Duke Energy.

Testimony from both sides have painted a conversation with a Duke Power representative as the pivotal moment on Sept. 13, 2005.

Carmen Feaster told jurors that the customer service center received a call from the Witherspoon residence on 1:36 p.m. on Sept.13, less than 30 minutes before the 911 call reporting the shooting.

Feaster said the couple had been sent a disconnect notice, and their power bill had reached nearly $900, a large majority of which was past due. Duke records indicated the call came from a woman.

In statements to police, Misty Witherspoon said that conversation sent her into a state of depression, knowing that she would have to tell her husband when he awoke from a nap, and that it might postpone a planned camping trip the next day. She said when she knocked her husband’s service weapon off a bathroom shelf, she began to consider suicide.

The prosecution has presented evidence that the power disconnect was the latest in a series of financial mishaps for the Witherspoons.

Three Concord police officers testified on afternoon. Mike Drake said he knew Quinn Witherspoon was in dire financial straits. He testified he knew Witherspoon had borrowed money from a captain to get his house payment up-to-date.

Pat Merritt saw Quinn Witherspoon on Sept. 12 at a weekly canine training session. He said Witherspoon left early to testify in a case before the Cabarrus County Grand Jury.

Brandon Ferguson, another canine officer, also testified to seeing Quinn Witherspoon on Sept. 12. He said he asked Witherspoon to serve as the on-call canine officer for him Sept. 13 through 15. He said agreed, saying he was planning to leave to go camping later in the week, and would take the on-call schedule until he left.

The state, in cross-examination of two of the officers, asked about Witherspoon’s safety habits concerning his weapon. Merritt and Ferguson both described him as safety conscious. "He was the most safety conscious police officer I ever knew, Merritt said.

Retired captain Ron Green, a firearms instructor, also testified to Witherspoon’s safety habits. In addition, Green was asked to use Witherspoon’s 40-cailber Beretta service weapon and duty belt to demonstrate the holster’s safety features. Green said it took at least two motions to retrieve the weapon from the holster, including moving a shield over the weapon and pulling it in a certain direction to get it out of the holster.

Brandi Oliver, a friend of Misty Witherspoon’s, testified to a conversation she had with Misty approximately one hour before Quinn was killed. She said Misty returned an earlier phone call she had placed about 1 p.m., and they talked between 15 minutes to 30 minutes about a painting project and their children. She said Misty sounded like she always had, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She did testify that Misty had lost weight in recent months.

One of Misty’s two younger sisters, Melanie Keller, testified that she was concerned about her sister in the weeks prior to the shooting. Like Oliver, she said, Misty had lost weight. At one family gathering when Misty sat in a chair, wrapped in a blanket. "She was very quiet, which is unusual," she testified. Also, she said, a phone call came in and her sister went to another room to talk. Usually, she said, her sister took phone calls in front of everyone.

One state’s witness, Leslie Burgess, a friend of Misty’s, said she used her caller ID to screen calls from creditors, and that she turned the ringer off in order for her husband not to know about the increasing credit crisis.

Closing arguments began on Friday morning, two weeks and one day after the opening statements were presented to the eight-man, four-woman jury.

As defense attorney Andrew Jennings and Assistant District Attorneys Alan Martin and Greg Brown argued their cases before the jury, all three utilized many of the exhibits shown to the jury during the trial.

Brown used a PowerPoint presentation, titled "A Story, A Story," based on the title of the child’s book found lying on the floor in the Witherspoon’s living room on the day Quinn Witherspoon died.

Jennings spent most of his 100-minute argument in front of the jury, showing photos and documents to back up his case – that Misty Witherspoon accidentally killed her husband in a failed suicide attempt.

He did use the love seat that matched the sofa on which Quinn Witherspoon died to demonstrate how his client contended the shooting occurred.

Jennings stressed she didn’t know anything about weapons.

He also said the Witherspoons had no history of marital problems, no separations, no reports of any type of domestic violence.

Jennings admitted Misty Witherspoon lied in her initial statements to police, but it was not in an attempt to cover up a crime but to disguise her suicidal thoughts. "You will find this was nothing but an accident," he said.

Martin told the jury Misty Witherspoon shot her husband on purpose after talking with Duke Power Co. about the disconnect notice. He said Quinn Witherspoon had stood by his wife after she embezzled funds from their church and had borrowed $12,000 to pay back some of that money.

A few months later, when he learned their house payment was behind, he approached a supervisor at the Concord Police Department to borrow $2,000.

"That goes right to the core of his being," Martin told the jury.

By Sept. 13, he said, she had again placed the family in financial peril. "She knows she’s got a problem coming up with Duke Power," he said.

Martin said Misty Witherspoon expected to clear up the problem as she had before with a promise to pay. Duke Power told her no, she had to come up with $457 in cash that day.

"Now, she’s got a problem. She’s out of time, out of chances and out of strikes," he said.

That prompted her to put a plan into action to kill her husband.

The jury went out to deliberate at 3:45 p.m. Friday, returning to the courtroom at 4:30 to listen to the 911 tape. They returned to the jury room a few minutes later to review several pieces of evidence they had asked to see. Those items included pictures from the scene and the autopsy and some financial documents.

They were sent home around 5:05 p.m., and returned Monday to resume deliberations.

The jury returned at 9 a.m. Monday, and asked to see transcripts of Misty Witherspoon’s last two interviews with police, one on Oct. 3 and the other on Oct. 5, 2005.

After deliberating for 2 hours and 45 minutes, the jury returned to the courtroom with the guilty verdict.

Witherspoon receives sentence

Misty Witherspoon was sentenced to life without parole in the shooting death of her husband.

For more, check out tomorrow's R&L.

Witherspoon found guilty

Misty Witherspoon was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her husband, former Concord Police Department Officer Quinn Witherspoon.

For sentencing and more details, check this blog, statesville.com and the print edition of the Statesville R&L.

Did you know? Breaking news text alerts were sent out to those that signed up for IredellLINK, the R&L's text messaging alert system. Sign up for breaking news, weather, schools, contests and sports alerts by clicking here.

Witherspoon faces embezzlement sentencing

After the jury left to begin deliberating her fate on a first-degree murder charge, Misty Witherspoon faced Judge Kim Taylor on embezzlement and financial identity theft counts.

For the full story, click here.

Closing arguments made, jury deliberates

Photo by Bruce Matlock / bmatlock@statesville.com

The title of a children’s book found lying on the floor formed the theme of the closing arguments for prosecutors in the first-degree murder trial of a Mooresville woman.

For the full story, click here.

Family waits for justice

For nearly three weeks, Bob and Frances Witherspoon have sat in the wooden chairs outside the courtrooms in the Iredell County Hall of Justice.

Now, they’re hoping the justice portion of that name rings true.

For the full story, click here.

Doctor: Slaying unintentional

Photo by Bruce Matlock / bmatlock@statesville.com

A forensic psychologist testified Thursday that a Mooresville woman could not form the intent to kill when she shot her off-duty police officer husband in 2005.

For the full story, click here.

Quinn's mother testifies

Photo by Bruce Matlock / bmatlock@statesville.com

The mother of a slain off-duty Concord police officer testified that she was too distraught to ask her daughter-in-law about what happened in their Mooresville home on Sept. 13, 2005.

For the full story, click here.

Gunshot distance debated

Two pathologists offered differing viewpoints to the distance from which a Mooresville woman fired the fatal shot that killed her off-duty police officer husband on Sept. 13, 2005.

For the full story, click here.

HR director shares death benefits

The human resources director for the City of Concord testified that nearly $200,000 worth of insurance and other benefits were available to a Mooresville woman accused of killing her husband.

For the full story, click here.

The State vs. Misty Witherspoon

As the trial enters its third week, the state of N.C. has introduced more than 70 pieces of evidence, and the defense, thus far, has brought in nearly 40.

Some of the evidence presented in the trial so far includes:

For the state

• 31 photos, most of the crime scene. Photos of Quinn Witherspoon in his Concord Police Department uniform and a photo of Misty Witherspoon on the day of the shooting have also been shown to the jury.
• The yellow shorts and white T-shirt Misty Witherspoon was wearing on the day of the shooting. Detectives testified the shirt had a blood smear as if someone wiped their hand on the front of it and the shorts had a blood spot on one leg.
• Quinn Witherspoon's 40-caliber Beretta service weapon, a magazine from the gun and his duty belt, which was found lying on the bathroom floor.
• Various statements by paramedics and a state trooper, a friend of Quinn's, who came to the scene moments after the shooting.
• Credit reports
• A child's book called "A Story, A Story."
• A diagram of the inside of the Witherspoon's Mooresville residence. It has hung on the wall behind the witness stand since the first Mooresville police officer testified.
• A mannequin head with an entrance and exit wound like that suffered by Quinn Witherspoon. It has sat on a table in front of the witness stand, along with other evidence, with a dowel road inserted through the wound tract.
• A DVD of Misty Witherspoon's 911 call on Sept. 13, 2005 and a transcript of that call.
• DVDs of two separate interviews with police, one on Oct. 3, 2005 and the second two days later. It was on the second tape that she admitted her "slip and fall" story was fabricated, and the shooting was the result of a failed suicide attempt.
• A spent shell casing and a fragment from Witherspoon's 40-caliber Beretta.
• A cordless phone handset, with blood on the back.

For the defense

The defense has also introduced a large number of photos, 28.

Other defense evidence brought to the attention of the jury during cross-examination of state's witnesses:

• The computer-generated report for emergency responders on the day of the shooting.
• An incident report filed by then Officer Corey Barnette.
• The crime scene log, which charts who enters and exits the crime scene.
• Phone records from the Witherspoon house.
• A log of the photos taken by police at the scene and an evidence log from that scene.
• E-mails between Misty Witherspoon and lead investigator, Detective Todd Marcum

Witnesses who have testified thus far in the case

• Paul Webster, at that time a telecommunicator with Iredell County Emergency Communications, who took Misty Witherspoon's 911 call
• Corey Barnette, a former officer with the Mooresville Police Department. He was the first police officer to arrive on the scene at 904 S. Magnolia St.
• Jason Fleming, a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper and a friend of Quinn Witherspoon's. He spoke with Misty Witherspoon on the front lawn of her home in the minutes after the shooting. He testified she repeatedly told him the "slip and fall" story.
• Paramedics Linden Walker and Wes Thompson, who responded to the house that day and confirmed Quinn Witherspoon was dead.
• Iredell County Medical Examiner Tony Tudor, who noticed a spent shell casing fall from under Witherspoon's body as he and detectives rolled Quinn Witherspoon off the couch where he died.Tudor also testified that he dug a bullet fragment from the pillow underneath Quinn Witherspoon's head.
• Detectives Todd Marcum, who headed the investigation and Gerald Childress, who supervised and helped with collection of much of the evidence.
• Neal Morin, a forensics firearm examiner with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.

A portion of two days of the trial, which began with jury selection on June 26, have been dedicated to the viewing of more than five hours of video-taped statements by Misty Witherspoon on Oct. 3, 2005 and two days later.

While the Oct. 5, 2005 video was being shown, as Misty Witherspoon was being questioned about what she did with the telephone after calling 911, a loud bang emanated from the audio-visual equipment belonging to the state.

The state brought in a new sofa, similar to the one in the Witherspoon house, in order for Marcum to demonstrate investigator's beliefs that Quinn Witherspoon's head had been moved after he was shot, and that he was not shot from the front of the couch as Misty Witherspoon first told investigators. The Witherspoons' couch was not seized by the state, and was disposed of the day after the crime by a family friend after the scene had been released.

Childress explained, under cross-examination Friday, that the couch was not seized on the day of the crime because, based on Misty Witherspoon's initial statements, police didn't know it played a role in the shooting. He said police went back on Sept. 14, 2005, after their suspicions had been raised by photos and other evidence, to retrieve the couch but it had been removed.

Childress said he learned the sofa had been broken up by a back hoe and taken to the transfer station in Mooresville. He said he and others dug through two tractor-trailer loads of trash trying to locate the sofa, with no success.

"Had she (Misty Witherspoon) not been as deceitful as she was, we would have seized the couch," he told the jury.

Defense attorney Andrew Jennings objected to bringing in the sofa, arguing that it was not the same as the Witherspoons'. He said it was new and the wear and tear pattern, as well as the thickness of the cushions and the pillows on the couch, were different from the Witherspoons. Judge Kim Taylor held an evidentary hearing outside the presence of the jury.

After hearing testimony from District Attorney's Office Investigator Johnny Marks as well as arguments from Jennings and Assistant District Attorney Greg Brown, Taylor ruled it could be used for demonstrative purposes. It sat in the middle of the courtroom for two days during Marcum's testimony.

Trial expected to wrap this week

Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case in the first-degree murder trial of Misty Witherspoon this week.

For the full story, click here.

Jury sees police interview

As Superior Court Judge Kim Taylor looks on, Assistant District Attorney Greg Brown presents evidence for verification to Mooresville Police Detective Gerald Childress on Thursday afternoon in the trial of Misty Witherspoon. Bruce Matlock/ bmatlock@statesville.com During a nearly three-hour videotaped interview, Misty Witherspoon denied intentionally killing her husband. For the full story, click here.

Jury expected to watch Witherspoon interview video today

The first-degree murder trial of Misty Witherspoon resumes today in Iredell County Superior Court following a recess for Independence Day.

A week after testimony began in the trial of the Mooresville woman, some eight witnesses have taken the stand.

For the full story, click here.

Firearms analyst takes stand

Misty Witherspoon listens to testimony in Iredell County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon. Bruce Matlock/ bmatlock@statesville.com

A ballistics expert confirmed that the weapon that killed an off-duty Concord police officer while he slept on the couch in his Mooresville home was the one he carried while at work.

Neal Morin, a forensic firearms analyst with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), was one of two witnesses to testify Tuesday in the trial of Misty Witherspoon.

For the full story, click here.

Detective: Witherspoon changed her story

Misty Witherspoon leaves the Iredell County Hall of Justice on Friday, after the first full day of testimony in her trial. Photo by Bruce Matlock / bmatlock@statesville.com

For nearly three weeks after Quinn Witherspoon’s death, his wife maintained she accidentally shot him after slipping on a child’s book called “A Story, A Story.”

That was the testimony of Detective Todd Marcum of the Mooresville Police Department in Iredell County Superior Court on Monday.

For the full story, click here.