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Katie Hamlin - GA

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Katie Hamlin - GA
« Thread started on: Nov 27^th, 2005, 9:06pm »

On July 1, 2002, Katie Hamlin accepted a ride from two young men she knew. The two young men decided to rape, murder and then set Katie on fire. They left her in a field. Her body was found the next day. Katie was only 15 years old.

Katie's Website:
http://www.katiehamlininfo.fcpages.com/

« Last Edit: Nov 27^th, 2005, 9:15pm by FindCarrie »

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Re: Katie Hamlin - GA
« Reply #1 on: Nov 27^th, 2005, 9:06pm »

While many will spend the week after Thanksgiving getting ready for Christmas, Donna Hamlin plans to spend her days in a Cherokee County courtroom. And she will be happy to be there.

"I've been waiting for this," the Canton woman said.

Jury selection is expected to begin Monday in Cherokee County Superior Court in the trial of two men charged with killing Hamlin's 15-year-old daughter, whose nude, partially burned body was found July 2002 in a dry creek in Cherokee County near Lake Allatoona.

"I'm just thankful it is happening because justice is finally being served," Hamlin said.

Jamerson Mangrum, 19, faces felony murder and rape charges in connection with the death of Katie Hamlin. Jonathan Elkins, 20, is charged with being a party to the crime of felony murder and making false statements, both felonies.

The two men are expected to be tried together, said Cherokee County District Attorney Garry Moss.

Donna Hamlin last saw her daughter alive about 11:30 p.m. on July 1, 2002. The girl's body was found the next day. It took a week to identify the body using dental records and it was another 19 months before a GBI pathologist ruled in February 2004 that Katie died of asphyxiation.

Donna Hamlin said she is preparing herself for the harsh realities to be revealed in crime scene photographs and courtroom testimony.

"My daughter was a loving, beautiful 15-year-old," Donna Hamlin said. "That is the Katie I have fixed in my mind."

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cherokee/1105/24hamlin.html

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DNA Links Suspect to Teen's Murder
« Reply #2 on: Nov 27^th, 2005, 9:14pm »

CANTON, Ga. (AP) -- Samples of DNA taken from the body of a Cherokee County girl who was raped and killed two years ago matched that from the blood of an 18-year-old charged in her death, a detective testified Friday.

Cherokee County sheriff's Deputy Joe McDonald was a witness in a probable cause hearing to learn what led investigators to suspect Jamerson Mangrum in the death of 15-year-old Katie Hamlin, whose nude, partially burned body was found near Lake Allatoona in July 2002.

Authorities charged Mangrum with felony murder and rape in February after determining the cause of death was asphyxiation. Earlier, Mangrum, a friend of Hamlin's, was charged with two counts
of aggravated child molestation, one count of simple child molestation, abandoning a body, concealing a death and tampering with evidence.

Magistrate Judge James Drane bound Mangrum's case over to Superior Court. He is being held without bond.

Authorities also made two other arrests in Hamlin's death. Roberto Rocha, 20, was released on $50,000 bond last month after family members and acquaintances testified he was in Brazil at the time of Katie's death.

Jonathan Elkins, 20, charged with being party to the crime of felony murder and making false statements, is being held without bond at the Cherokee County Jail.
http://www.11alive.com/news/printarticle.aspx?storyid=45170

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Two go on trial in teen's slaying
« Reply #3 on: Nov 28^th, 2005, 4:59pm »

By CLINT WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/28/05

It's been more than three years since her daughter, Katie Hamlin, was found dead. Donna Hamlin has since changed her name, becoming Hamlin-Tubbs after getting remarried in May. In August, she moved into a new house in Canton.

But Hamlin-Tubbs said she won't really be able to move on with her life until the two men charged with killing her daughter face a judge and jury. That is expected to happen today in Cherokee County Superior Court before Judge Frank Mills.

Jamerson Mangrum, 20, is charged with felony murder and rape. Jonathan Elkins, 21, is charged with being a party to the crime of felony murder and making false statements, both felonies.

The men are expected to be tried together, said Cherokee District Attorney Garry Moss.

The nude, partially burned body of 15-year-old Katie Hamlin was found July 2, 2002, in a dry creek in Cherokee County near Lake Allatoona. It took a week to identify the body using dental records, and it was 19 months before a GBI pathologist ruled in February 2004 that Katie had died of asphyxiation.

DNA evidence and telephone records link Mangrum with Katie, said Capt. Ron Hunton, head of the violent crimes unit of the Cherokee Sheriff's Department.

In an April 2003 probable cause hearing, sheriff's Deputy Joe McDonald testified that DNA from sperm samples taken from the body of the victim matched that from the blood of Mangrum.

Telephone records, Hunton said last week, show Mangrum and Katie had talked the night before her body was found.

Mangrum and Katie "had known each other for some time," Hunton said. "They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, but they had known each other in school."

Donna Hamlin last saw her daughter alive about 11:30 p.m. on July 1, 2002.

The girl's body was found the next day.

The prosecution has subpoenaed more than 100 witnesses for a trial that may last two weeks.

The defense has submitted a list of more than 30 possible witnesses.

The trial is a grim start to the holiday season, Hamlin-Tubbs said.

"There will be [crime scene] photos. There will be things not very pleasant to see," said Hamlin-Tubbs. "It's not a happy time."

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cherokee/1105/28methamlin.html

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Hamlin Jury Sees Interrogation
« Reply #4 on: Dec 5^th, 2005, 05:22am »

Reported By: Jon Shirek
Web Editor: Michael King
Last Modified: 12/3/2005 12:09:29 AM

There were shouts and accusations heard in a Cherokee County courtroom on Friday, coming from a videotaped interrogation. The jury in the trial of 20 year old Jamerson Mangrum, who is charged with raping and murdering 15-year-old Katie Hamlin, heard Mangrum on the videotape denying everything to investigators.

From the beginning, detectives did not believe him.

�Don't lie to me, Boy!� shouted the detective on the videotape. �I'm telling you, you're lying! This girl is dead! Do you want to go to jail for murder?�

On the tape, Mangrum replied, �No, sir.�

�Then tell the truth,� the detective said. �Okay? Tell the truth!�

Investigators grilled Mangrum for some five hours, on July 10, 2002. Hamlin was murdered in the early morning hours of July 2, 2002. Her body was discovered in a secluded area off of Kemp Rd., about a mile from Mangrum's home. Jurors are in the process of watching videotapes of the entire interrogation.

Mangrum, then 17 years old, told detectives during the interrogation that the interrogation was making him nervous and scared. He expressed worry about how he might now lose his job at a fast food restaurant, about never being able to finish his education and start his own business. Cherokee County Sheriff's investigators suspected even then that Mangrum had something to do with raping and murdering Hamlin, and setting her body on fire to try to destroy evidence that might point to him.

The video tape continued.

Detective: �James, did you kill her?�

Mangrum: �No.�

Detective, interrupting: �Did you have sex with her? Did you have sex with her?�

Mangrum: �No, I didn�t.�

But later, Mangrum admitted they had had consensual sex that morning, changing his story when detectives told him his DNA was in Hamlin�s body. Mangrum insists to this day that he did not rape her.

The prosecutor, Wallace Rogers, says Hamlin died violently during rape and Rogers had a forensic pathologist testify to that point.

Dr. Liubisa Jovan Dragovic, who is the chief forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Oakland County, Mich., who consulted on the Hamlin autopsy, demonstrated his conclusion that Hamlin had been face down -- stomach down -- on a bed or a couch, trying to fight back Dragovic showed how, based on forensic evidence such as the bruises left on Hamlin's body, someone could have pushed a knee into her back, forcing her chest so far down into the cushion that she couldn't breathe, and she quickly died. The prosecutor says Mangrum is the one who attacked her in that way.

On the interrogation videotape, Mangrum told detectives he was not with Hamlin when she was killed.

Mangrum speculated aloud that maybe drug dealers had killed her. Then, later in the interrogation, Mangrum acknowledged to the detectives that he had received a phone call at his home, at 3:05 a.m. on July 2. Investigators had already told Mangrum that they had checked his phone records.

The man who called was a friend of Hamlin, but Mangrum claimed he barely him. Detectives were incredulous that anyone Mangrum barely knew would call him at that hour. Mangrum told detectives that the man told him that Hamlin was with him, and she had overdosed on drugs.

The autopsy would later show that Hamlin did not have even a trace of any drug in her system when she died.

Yet during the interrogation, even at that early stage of the investigation, detectives were not believing anything Mangrum was saying, as demonstrated by the detective shouting at him on the videotape.

�Now stop lying and tell the truth! Or you're going to jail for murder! You're the last person that talked to her! Garris called your house at three in the morning. That gives you time to go get her (from Garris's house, and bring her back to Mangrum's house), kill her, and burn her. Now, tell the truth on what you know! Tell it!� the detective said.

There are additional interrogation videotapes. The jury will see them on Monday.

The prosecution expects to rest its case by Wednesday.

Mangrum's defense now is that at some point he and Hamlin had consensual sex, and then he drove her -- alive and well -- to a friend�s house, and after that, he never saw her again.

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=72730

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Taped Interrogation Shows Lies
« Reply #5 on: Dec 6^th, 2005, 6:22pm »

Reported By: Jon Shirek
Web Editor: Michael King

On Monday, jurors in Cherokee County heard more from a taped interrogation of a man on trial for raping and killing 15-year-old Katie Hamlin.

The jurors heard Jamerson Mangrum finally admit to detectives that he did have sex with Hamlin shortly before her death, even though he had been denying it all along.

The jurors heard Mangrum change his story every time detectives said �We don�t believe you,� but he was consistent on one point -- that he did not kill Hamlin.

On the taped interrogation, detectives tried to convince Mangrum to admit that he murdered Hamlin. They showed him photos of Hamlin, and of her burned body.

Female detective: �This is what she did look like -- this is what she looks like now.�

Male detective: �Tell me what happened to her.�

Hours of interrogation, all night and into the morning. On the videotaped interrogation, Mangrum stuck to his main point.

Mangrum: �I didn�t dump the body anywhere. I didn�t kill her. I had nothing to do with her dying.�

Mangrum also denied at first that he and Hamlin had had sex. But then detectives told Mangrum they had recovered DNA evidence from Hamlin�s burned body.

Mangrum changed his story on the videotape.

Male detective: �Where did you have sex with her at?�

Mangrum: �In my room.�

Second male detective: �In your room? In your bedroom?�

Then Mangrum said he had driven Hamlin home and left her there. But detectives told him that Hamlin was already dead by then and Mangrum once again changed his story. He then said that he really left Hamlin at the apartment of some of her friends, and that he didn�t know any of them, and there, he said Hamlin was taken seriously ill.

Male detective: �Can you tell me what happened to her then?�

Mangrum: �I left her there.�

Male detective: �Dead?�

Mangrum: �She said she was going to sleep there.�

Female detective: �No you didn�t. James, James, I don�t believe you didn�t bother to go check on this chick that you had just had sex with, and she�s laying there on the damn floor. I�ve got a problem with that �cause how damn cold-hearted are you? Are you telling me that you�re cold-hearted enough to leave a 15-year-old girl that you just had sex with laying in the middle of a damn bathroom floor, �Oh, she�s OK, I�m not going to even go in there and look at her�? [expletive deleted]!�

Mangrum�s attorney said the detectives were so aggressive in their interrogation that they had rattled his client, and he became confused and couldn�t remember certain details, but that he did not kill Hamlin.

Late on Monday afternoon, the prosecutor said he may rest late on Tuesday or on Wednesday.
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=72846

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Mangrum Takes the Stand
« Reply #6 on: Dec 7^th, 2005, 7:08pm »

The judge made sure Jamerson Mangrum knew that he didn�t have to testify and that the jury couldn�t hold it against him, but Mangrum wanted to tell the jury directly, that he is innocent.

For nearly an hour, Mangrum explained to the jury about what he now says he and 15-year-old Katie Hamlin did together in the hours just before her body was discovered, burned, about a mile from his home.

Mangrum�s attorney, Jimmy Berry, asked him point-blank if he had anything to do with Hamlin�s death.

�Did you have anything to do with the death of Katie Hamlin?� Berry asked on the stand.

�Absolutely not,� Mangrum answered. �I had absolutely nothing to do with it.�

Mangrum testified that that morning, he and Hamlin had gone to a friend�s house. She was looking for marijuana, and that�s where he and Hamlin had consensual sex. It wasn�t rape.

�And we ended up having sex,� Mangrum said. �It kind of happened. It wasn�t like a pre-planned thing.�

Under tough cross-examination, prosecutor Wally Rogers picked apart all of the contradictory stories and alibis that Mangrum has told from the time he was a suspect.

Rogers asked him why he repeatedly lied to everyone.

�I was a scared kid. I made a mistake. It�s something that I have regretted every day since, and I will continue to regret,� Mangrum said.

Later, Mangrum�s mother, Valerie Cassel broke down as she recalled finding out Mangrum was a suspect. Her testimony about other possible suspects, supporting the defense, that detectives should have at least checked out Mangrum�s latest alibi. -- that he left Hamlin alive and well with a friend shortly before she was killed.

Detectives say it was impossible to check out Mangrum�s latest alibi, because the first time they heard it was on Wednesday, from Mangrum, while he was on the witness stand.

Closing arguments are set for Thursday, then the jury will get the case.
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=72940

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Closing Arguments Heard In Hamlin Murder Case
« Reply #7 on: Dec 8^th, 2005, 12:53pm »

ATLANTA -- Closing arguments are underway in the trial of the man accused of killing 15-year old Katie Hamlin.

Prosecutors say Jamerson Mangrum, now 20-years old, raped and killed Hamlin three years ago.

Her semi-clothed, partially burned body was found in a dry creek bed off Kemp Road in southwest Cherokee County on July 2, 2002.

A GBI pathologist ruled in February 2004 that she had died of asphyxiation.

During the Cherokee County trial prosecutors said Mangrum admitted raping and killing the girl to two other inmates while in jail after being arrested July 11, 2002, and charged with statutory rape, cruelty to children, making a false statement and child molestation.

Mangrum admits to having sex with Hamlin the night she was killed, but claims she was alive when he dropped her off at her house.

Jonathan Elkins, charged with being a party to the crime of felony murder and making false statements in connection with the case, will be tried separately.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/5492815/detail.html

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Jury gets Katie Hamlin murder case
« Reply #8 on: Dec 8^th, 2005, 6:58pm »

By CLINT WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/08/05

It's now up to a jury to decide if a Cherokee County man raped and killed a 15-year-old girl more than three years ago.

Closing arguments were presented Thursday in the trail of Jamerson Mangrum, 20, charged with rape and murder of Katie Hamlin. Mangrum also is charged with aggravated child molestation, improper disposal of a body and tampering with evidence.

Hamlin's nude, partially burned body was found in a dry creek bed near Lake Allatoona in Cherokee County shortly after 7 a.m. July 2, 2002. The head and pelvic region were doused with gasoline and set afire. A GBI pathologist ruled in February 2004 that Katie had died of asphyxiation.

"Katie Hamlin's body was the best source of evidence in this case," said Cherokee County Assistant District Attorney Wally Rogers.

Bruises on the girl's body show she was forcibly restrained, Rogers told the jury. The DNA in the semen found in her body is evidence of sexual intercourse and sodomy, Rogers said.

Rogers also hammered on Mangrum's admitted history of deceit when recounting what happened in the early morning hours of July 2.

"He didn't tell the truth when he talked to the police. He didn't tell the truth when he talked to his momma," Rogers said.

While telephone records show Mangrum made a telephone call at 3:08 a.m. � less than an hour before a witness saw flames in the area where Hamlin's body was later found � the records don't prove Mangrum stayed home, Rogers said.

Rogers also dismissed the alternate theories of Hamlin's death suggested by defense attorney Jimmy Berry of Marietta.

"There is no doubt in my mind they are trying to sell you a case of reasonable doubt," Rogers told the jury of six men and six women.

And there are plenty of doubts, Berry said.

"We end this case with more questions unanswered than we started with," said Berry.

While experts testified Hamlin died of asphyxiation when she apparently passed out and vomit was sucked into her lungs, Berry said, no one is certain what triggered the asphyxia.

Berry suggested to the jury that Hamlin suffered a seizure, the result of taking the prescription medication Risperdal. Risperdal is used to treat behavioral problems in children and in rare instances can cause seizures. The state crime lab checked her blood for commonly used drugs, but not for Risperdal, Berry said.

Berry argued that were was no evidence of injury that would prove Hamlin was raped or struggled while being restrained.

Mangrum testified Wednesday that he and Hamlin went to the house of a mutual friend, Will Evans, and had sex. He said he left her at the house and went home about 3 a.m.

During a seven-hour interrogation by Cherokee County Sheriff's Department investigators shortly after Katie's body was found, Mangrum first denied having seen her the night she died, then admitted to having sex with her and dropping her off at a party at an apartment complex in south Cherokee.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cherokee/1205/09methamlin.html

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Murder verdict in death of Katie Hamlin
« Reply #9 on: Dec 11^th, 2005, 5:38pm »

By CLINT WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/10/05

It took more than three years to bring Jamerson Mangrum to trial, but it took a Cherokee County jury less than eight hours to convict him of raping, murdering and burning a teenage girl.

After a two-week trial, the jury of six men and six women found Mangrum, 20, guilty of nine of the 10 charges he faced in connection with the 2002 death of 15-year-old Katie Hamlin.

Cherokee County Superior Court Judge N. Jackson Harris is expected to sentence Mangrum on Thursday. The felony murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence, his attorney said.

Hamlin's nude, partially burned body was found in a dry creek bed near Lake Allatoona in Cherokee County shortly after 7 a.m. July 2, 2002. The head and pelvic region had been doused with gasoline and set afire. A pathologist ruled in 2004 that Katie had died of asphyxiation.

The verdict soothed the frustration of the long wait for trial, said Donna Hamlin-Tubbs, the victim's mother.

"Justice has been served," said Hamlin-Tubbs, who remarried and resettled in the three-plus years since the murder of her only daughter.

"We can go on with our lives and Katie can rest," she said.

After the jury foreman read the verdicts and the jury filed out of the courtroom, Hamlin-Tubbs sat down next to Mangrum's mother. She gave the sobbing Valerie Cassel a hug. The two embraced and exchanged whispers.

"I just said, 'I'm sorry,' and she just said, 'He didn't do it,' " Hamlin-Tubbs said, recounting the conversation.

Cassel left the Cherokee County Justice Center without speaking to reporters.

The events have devastated two families, Hamlin-Tubbs said, expressing sympathy for Cassel.

"She is a victim too," Hamlin-Tubbs said. "She is a mom. I lost my daughter. She lost her son."

Mangrum, testifying Wednesday, maintained he had sex with Hamlin, but left her alive at the home of a mutual friend about 3 a.m. July 2 � about an hour before a witness saw flames in the area where the body was found

The short time between the sexual encounter and the girl's death "was fairly devastating," said defense attorney Jimmy Berry.

He called the swiftness of the verdict surprising, but said "once they made the determination there was a rape, everything else fell together."

Bruises on the girl's body show she was restrained, Cherokee County assistant district attorney Wally Rogers told the jury Thursday. The DNA matching Mangrum to the semen found in her body is evidence of sexual intercourse and sodomy, Rogers said.

Berry said he hoped to interview jurors to determine their thinking in voting for the murder convictions.

"I felt in my heart the state didn't prove the murder case," he said.

Mangrum was also convicted of aggravated child molestation, improper disposal of a body and tampering with evidence.

He was acquitted of malice murder, which would have meant he had set out with the intent to kill her.

An appeal is possible, Berry said.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/cherokee/1205/10methamlin.html

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Mangrum Gets Life Plus 80 Years
« Reply #10 on: Dec 16^th, 2005, 10:53am »

A man convicted last week in the rape and murder of 15-year-old Katie Hamlin received a sentence of life in prison plus 80 years, 11Alive's Jon Shirek reported from Cherokee County Thursday.

Jamerson Mangrum must serve his sentences consecutively, the judge ruled upon handing down a punishment that was harsher that what the prosecution had recommended in the case.

"The facts of this case leave us with ghastly, loathsome images of death and the truth of this case as found by the jury lays responsibility at your feet -- a young girl trusted to your care taken and defiled and murdered. You tortured her and lied and then you took her face away in death," Judge Jackson Harris told Mangrum.

Harris sentenced Mangrum to life in prison for felony murder, and then tacked on consecutive sentences of 60 years for the two counts of aggravated child molestation, 10 years for concealing a death, and 10 years for tampering with evidence.

Prosecutors contended that Hamlin died of asphyxia when Mangrum forced her face into a pillow while raping her. Her body was then dumped by a roadside, doused with gasoline, and burned.

"I believe the rape in this case, which was the cause of death, is the murder for which I'm going to sentence you to spend the rest of your life in the state penitentiary," said Judge Harris. He ended the hearing by telling Mangrum, "God have mercy on your soul."

Moments before his sentencing, Mangrum was allowed to address the courtroom. His mother was too distraught and could not compose herself enough to make a statement on behalf of her son, according to defense attorney Jimmy Berry.

"I am remorseful as Mr. Berry stated. I do feel that this happened; it's a very tragic thing. I maintain my innocence," said Mangrum.

The victim's mother called it a fair punishment. "He'll never be coming out," Donna Hamlin-Tubbs told 11Alive News. "It's sad for his mother but my daughter's life; I'll never have here on this earth. She gets to go see him in a prison and I go to a cemetery. I feel for her, she's a victim here too."

Mangrum testified during the trial that he and Hamlin had consensual sex in the hours before her death. He claimed to have left her alive at a friend's house. His attorney said Thursday that the appeals process would start immediately.

The jury rejected that claim and found Mangrum guilty on 9 counts. He was found not guilty of murder because the jury did not believe that he planned the killing.

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=73321

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Man s trial for teen s rape, murder begins
« Reply #11 on: Apr 26^th, 2006, 3:20pm »

By Angela M. Jones

Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer

Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of a young man accused of the rape and murder of a 15-year-old Cherokee County girl in the summer of 2002.

Jonathan Heath Elkins, 21, of Woodstock is charged with rape, three counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated child molestation in the death of Katie Hamlin. He also is charged with abandoning a dead body, concealing the death of another and tampering with evidence.

The state is arguing that Elkins aided already-convicted Jamerson Douglas Mangrum in killing Katie and covering up her murder, while the defense in opening statements asked jurors to note all the holes in the story.

The jury of eight women and four men was seated and sworn in at 7:45 p.m. Monday by Cherokee Superior Court Judge N. Jackson Harris. Assistant district attorney Wallace "Wally" Rogers and defense attorneys, David Cannon Sr. and Daran Burns questioned 50 potential jurors.

The state today is scheduled to begin calling expert witnesses, including the medical examiner who performed the autopsy.

Katie's semi-clothed, badly burned remains were found in a dry creek bed just off Kemp Road in southwest Cherokee County on July 2, 2002.

"The evidence will show that this defendant was a co-participant in the death of Miss Hamlin," Rogers said of Elkins during opening statements. "The same charges that were applied to Mr. Mangrum are also applicable to Mr. Elkins in this case."

Mangrum, 20, was tried in late November for Katie's rape and murder and was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to life plus 80 years in early December.

If convicted, Elkins could face the same possible sentence, according to District Attorney Garry Moss.

"We're asking for the same severe sentence that we received for Mr. Mangrum," he said. "Mr. Elkins is being charged with the same crime, why shouldn't he serve the same sentence?"

Both Cannon and Rogers urged jurors to consider the evidence presented in court carefully, as they would only be able to hear the testimony once. Pads of paper and pens were provided to each juror to take notes during testimony, but Harris informed them the notes were not to leave the courtroom or be shared until deliberations begin.

"While you're listening to the evidence, and making your notes on the testimony and the evidence presented, make sure you also take note of the blank spaces," Cannon said. "In many places, the dots will not connect, and those areas that leave doubts are just as important as the facts that do add up."

Dressed in a dark suit and tie, Elkins faced the jury and listened attentively as the state called their first eight witnesses. He occasionally spoke with his attorneys and glanced back at his father, sister and brother seated two rows behind him.

Witnesses for the state on Tuesday included Donna Hamlin-Tubbs, Katie's mother; former Cherokee County Sheriff's Office's investigator William "Jodi" Power, lead agent on the initial investigation; and Charles Borg, the man who discovered Katie's body the morning of July 2.

Mrs. Hamlin-Tubbs said she hopes this time, the trial will provide her and her family with not just justice, but also answers about her daughter's fate.

"I'd thought that Jonathan might plead, after hearing what happened with Mangrum, but since that didn't happen, maybe he can finally tell us what happened," she said. "I still haven't been told what happened to Katie that night, so I'm really looking for answers now."

Members of Elkins' family were present in the courtroom, as were Mangrum's mother and stepfather, but all declined to comment on the proceedings.

http://www.cherokeetribune.com/306/10216579.txt

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Witness says he lied to give friend an alibi
« Reply #12 on: Apr 29^th, 2006, 6:55pm »

By Angela M. Jones

Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer

The jury in the trial of the man accused of helping kill a Cherokee County girl heard testimony Friday from a witness who said he lied to give him an alibi.

Jonathan Elkins, 21, is charged with raping and assisting in the murder of 15-year-old Katie Hamlin, whose remains were found in a creek bed in southwest Cherokee on July 2, 2002.

In his Cherokee County Superior Court trial, Elkins also faces charges of concealing the death of another, abandoning a dead body and tampering with evidence and could face life in prison if convicted.

Bobby Pierce, 21, told the court Friday that Elkins, his best friend since fourth grade, called him the day after Katie's body was found. Elkins allegedly told him "if the cops come around looking for me, tell them I was with you."

"When he told me that, I just said OK and hung up," he said. "Everyone says I'm being foolish, but even after Jonathan told me why they might be looking for him, I didn't ask anymore about it. I didn't want to know anymore."

The state is arguing that Elkins assisted co-defendant Jamerson Douglas Mangrum in disposing of Katie's body and attempting to conceal her death by destroying it. Elkins then asked his closest friends to provide him with an alibi for that evening, Rogers said.

Mangrum, 20, was convicted in late November of Katie's rape and murder and is currently serving a life sentence plus 80 years in prison.

Pierce, in a taped interview on April 5, 2004, with assistant district attorney Wallace "Wally" Rogers and investigator Carol Burkes, described Elkins as easy going and caring - a good friend who always was ready to lend a hand or a listening ear.

"Jonathan was very easy to talk to, almost never argued with anyone," he said during the taped interview, which was played for jurors. "Me and Jonathan and Chase (Boyd) were like the three musketeers. We were the trio."

In addition to asking about Elkins' personality, in the taped interview Rogers questioned Pierce about a number and the duration of phone calls Elkins made the day after Katie's body was discovered.

According to a section of phone records the state scrutinized, Pierce received several phone calls from Elkins on July 3, of varying lengths, including a four-minute call at 3 p.m. and a 19-minute call at 9:15 p.m.

"Nineteen minutes is a long time to be on the phone, that's a fairly lengthy conversation, to my mind" Rogers said. "If someone is talking on the phone for 19 minutes about the same subject, there's usually something going on."

The state believes that Elkins told Pierce what to say during the first, shorter phone call and called back later to explain why the police might be looking for him, and to describe the events surrounding Katie's death.

The jury on Friday also heard testimony by Dr. Ljubisa Jovan Dragovic, a forensic and anatomical pathologist from Oakland County, Mich. He determined the cause of Katie's death to be compressional asphyxia, caused by the application of pressure to her back and the carotid arteries on both sides of her neck.

Judge N. Jackson Harris will decide on Monday morning if jurors will hear testimony from several inmate witnesses who claim Mangrum admitted raping and killing Katie, and that Elkins was present for the crimes.

Katie's mother, Donna Hamlin-Tubbs and several members of her family were present at the trial, as were members of Elkins' family. Both families declined to comment on the testimony.

http://www.cherokeetribune.com/306/10216960.txt

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Both sides give their closings
« Reply #13 on: May 4^th, 2006, 10:54am »

By Angela M. Jones

Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer

Jury deliberations are under way to determine the fate of a young man accused in the rape and murder of a Cherokee County teenager in the summer of 2002.

Jonathan Heath Elkins, 21, is charged with rape and two counts of aggravated child molestation in the death of 15-year-old Katie Hamlin. He is also charged with abandoning a dead body, concealing the death of another and tampering with evidence.

Katie's remains were found in a dry creek bed just off Kemp Road in southwest Cherokee on July 2, 2002.

Closing arguments were heard Wednesday morning in the courtroom of Cherokee County Superior Court Judge N. Jackson Harris, who also heard the trial of co-defendant Jamerson Douglas Mangrum.

Mangrum, 20, was convicted in late November of raping and murdering Katie, and was sentenced to life in prison plus 80 years. If convicted, Elkins could be facing a similar sentence, according to District Attorney Garry Moss.

Elkins, dressed in a dark suit and tie, listened attentively to the closing arguments, and observed the jury's reaction to each attorney's statements. He smiled and nodded to his family, seated just behind him, as he was led out of the courtroom.

The jury began deliberating at about 2:45 p.m. after returning from a lunch break. After nearly four hours of deliberation, the jury went home with plans to return to the courtroom this morning.

During deliberations Wednesday night, the jury asked to hear an evidence audiotape and, per their request, today also will hear another audiotape and view a videotape.

The state argued that Elkins assisted Mangrum in raping Katie by restraining her. When the two realized she was dead, he and Mangrum allegedly took the body to Kemp Road and burned it to destroy any lingering DNA evidence and conceal the victim's identity.

"This young girl's body was taken out and dumped on the side of the road, like yesterday's garbage, and burned, to the point that she couldn't even be given a decent funeral," assistant district attorney Wallace "Wally" Rogers said during closing arguments. "The defendants didn't care then, and they don't care now."

Rogers also argued Elkins, knowing the police would likely want to know where he was the night Katie died, asked his close friends to provide an alibi for him.

Elkins' attorneys, David Cannon Sr. and Daran Burns, asked the jury to find Elkins not guilty of all charges, because the state had not proved their case against him. They cited the lack of physical evidence connecting Elkins with the sexual assault on Katie.

"Have the dots been connected for you?" Cannon asked the jury during closing statements. "We have Mangrum's DNA all over this young girl's body, but where have you been shown any DNA connecting Jonathan to this crime?"

Cannon argued that while both the medical examiners, as well as inmate witnesses who testified, said more than one person restrained Katie while Mangrum raped her, the autopsy revealed no outward signs of injury consistent with that theory.

The jury also must determine whether a conspiracy existed between Mangrum and Elkins to rape Katie and later to dispose of her remains after she died. If a conspiracy is determined to have existed, whatever one conspirator did applies to the whole group, according to Rogers.

He went on to explain to the jury that if a conspiracy did exist between Mangrum and Elkins, any statements Mangrum may have made to others also could be applied to Elkins.

The defense questioned the existence of a conspiracy, pointing out that there was little communication between the two prior to July 1, 2002.

"Where are the phone calls between Mangrum and Elkins prior to the 1:03 a.m. phone call to Katie Hamlin?" Burns asked. "If, as the state maintains, there was some sort of conspiracy or plan to do something, there should be records of phone calls back and forth. Where are they?"

Katie's mother, Donna Hamlin-Tubbs, and her family were present as the judge gave the jury the final charge of law and instruction, as were members of Elkins' family, including his father and sister. Both families declined to comment.

http://www.cherokeetribune.com/306/10217374.txt

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Elkins trial deliberations still ongoing
« Reply #14 on: May 5^th, 2006, 08:02am »

By Angela M. Jones

Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer

The jury will take a third day to decide the fate of a young man accused of aiding in the rape and murder of a 15-year-old southwest Cherokee County girl in the summer of 2002.

Jonathan Heath Elkins, 21, is on trial for the death of Katie Hamlin, whose semi-clothed, burned body was found in a dry creek bed off Kemp Road in southwest Cherokee on July 2, 2002.

Elkins also face charges of aggravated child molestation, abandoning a dead body, concealing the death of another and tampering with evidence.

The jury began deliberations at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, and retired four hours later without reaching a verdict.

That afternoon and when they returned on Thursday, jurors listened to audiotape recordings of interviews with Elkin, and state witnesses Bobby Pierce and Roberto Rocha, both friends of Elkins. The jury on Thursday also viewed videotaped interviews with Rocha and Pierce conducted by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office in 2004, according to District Attorney Garry Moss.

The jury retired at 6 p.m. on Thursday, again without reaching a verdict. Deliberations will resume today at 9 a.m.

Rick Tubbs, husband of Donna Hamlin-Tubbs, Katie's mother, spent his 55th birthday Thursday waiting for the jury to reach a verdict.

"I was hoping they would have come to a decision today," he said. "Getting a verdict would have been the best birthday present I could have received."

Mrs. Hamlin-Tubbs said while the wait is difficult because of the range of emotions members of both her family and Elkins' family are experiencing, it is important no to rush the decision-making process.

"The jury should take all the time they need, so that they are able to evaluate every piece of evidence from every possible side," she said. "They need to make sure that all the dots are connected for them, as [defense attorney David] Cannon said in his statement."

James Cassel, father of Elkins' convicted co-defendant Jamerson Douglas Mangrum, said despite how taxing the wait is, he is glad that the deliberations still are going on.

"The longer it takes the better," he said. "If they're still down there talking it out, then it means that at least one of them, and hopefully more, believes that he's innocent."

Mangrum, 20, was tried for Katie's rape and murder in late November, and was found guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus 80 years in early December.

If convicted, Elkins could face a similar sentence, Moss said.

Mangrum's attorney, Jimmy Berry of Marietta, has filed a request for an appeal, but a hearing date has not yet been set, Cassel said.

Elkins' former girlfriend, Valerie Cassel, and several family friends joined his father in the hallway to wait for the verdict on Thursday. They declined to comment until a verdict was reached.

http://www.cherokeetribune.com/306/10217480.txt

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