Evidence of Murder (21 page)

The prosecutor placed it into evidence.

Culhan asked further questions about the interior of the automobile, the air-conditioning, the controls, the vents and the leather seats, and Larson gave a full description of each.

The prosecutor asked about the radar detector. Larson paused, took a deep breath and said, “We bought a radar detector for it and I had the dealer hardwire it in for me. I didn’t want to take a chance on messing something up.”

Culhan asked, “Did you go in the store and buy it, or was it mail order?”

Larson stated that it was a mail order purchase.

With a glance to Judge Perry, sitting firmly upright in his black robe, absorbing the examination, Culhan turned to the witness. “For the record I’m going to show you state’s exhibit ‘AA’ for identification. Also for the record, I’m going to break the seal at this time.”

The prosecutor handed the package to the witness. “Sir,” he said, “take a look inside this bag. You can pull it out if you want to. Do you recognize that item, Mr. Larson?”

“Yeah, that looks like it.” Larson nodded.

After his witness identified the radar detector, Culhan asked Larson how it was used and Larson explained. The piece was then moved into evidence.

On cross-examination Bob Wesley asked many detailed questions about the description of the Ford Explorer, comparing it to other SUV models made by other manufacturers, and asking Jim Larson if he was familiar with them. He was not.

Wesley had many more questions about the vehicle. “This car has sort of a remote-control configuration that came with the key ring, correct, sir?”

Larson nodded his head. “Yes.”

“And from a distance a person could operate or unlock buttons to the doors, correct?”

Again Jim Larson agreed that was true.

The defense lawyer’s bright blue eyes pierced into Larson, and he asked sharply, “And the panic button, how did that operate? Tell the jury, please.”

“You press the button, the horn and lights flash.”

“Have you ever seen that in action?”

“Oh, yeah.”

The defense lawyer pressed on, asking what kind of noise the Explorer horn made.

Larson stated, “It’s just a beep, beep, beep; the lights flash—”

Wesley interrupted, following through. “All the lights flash on the car?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s a key ring feature of that truck that you had?”

Larson told him that was correct.

Several courtroom viewers were puzzled by Wesley’s questions. Since Carla evidently didn’t press the alarm button, was Wesley implying she left the parking lot voluntarily? This woman who was so safety conscious that she didn’t speak to strangers? Or was the more likely scenario that the man approached Carla as she opened her car door with her arms filled carrying the grocery bag, punched her in the stomach, and when she doubled over helplessly, shoved her inside the vehicle and took off?

Wesley turned to another subject. “Her work as an engineer, Mrs. Larson worked for Centex Rooney, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And more of her coworkers, at least from a professional basis, were men, is that correct?”

“That’s correct,” Larson answered, a puzzled expression on his face.

Bob Wesley pressed on. “And so your information was that she would often go to lunch with men, or had meetings with other men, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Wesley looked around the courtroom as he formed his next question. “Sometimes”—he paused dramatically—“even after-hours activities that involved coworkers who were male.”

Ted Culhan sprang to his feet. “I object to this, Your Honor, as irrelevant, beyond the scope of direct examination.”

Judge Perry leaned forward at the bench and stated, “Overruled at this point.”

The burly defense counsel proceeded. “Some after-hours functions involved male coworkers, correct?”

“Yes,” Larson answered, perplexed.

Wesley asked the judge for a moment, and after conferring with his co-counsel, Tyrone King, announced, “Nothing further. Thank you.”

James Larson was excused from the witness stand.

Judge Perry announced that there would be a fifteen-minute recess and instructed the jury there was to be no discussion of the case

When court reconvened, Judge Perry nodded to the bailiff to have the next witness brought in. Angel Huggins, estranged wife of the accused John Huggins, would be the final witness on this second day of the trial.

The courtroom filled with whispers as the tall, very pretty, nicely dressed woman came into the courtroom. Her oval face was carefully made up, and her reddish blond hair was arranged attractively. She exuded an air of confidence and a pleasant personality, although she was somewhat hesitant in the unfamiliar and solemn surroundings. Angel Huggins was sworn in and took the witness chair, where she sat quietly, with an inquiring expression on her face.

One of the reporters could be heard whispering to a colleague, “She’s tagged as a key witness.”

His friend shrugged and whispered back, “Why would such a looker fall for such a loser?”

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton asked Angel to tell the jury and the court how she, her estranged husband John Huggins and their collective children shared the day of June 10, 1997, staying near Walt Disney World at the Days Inn, across the road from the Publix market, where Carla Larson was last seen alive.

In answer to the questions, Angel testified in a clear, sharp voice, bringing out that John Huggins vanished for several hours that day.

Ashton asked Angel Huggins to describe her husband’s appearance when he finally came back to the motel, where they were staying.

“When he returned, he acted strangely. He appeared like he had been running. He was sweating. He was clammy and his T-shirt was clinging to his body.”

In her continuing testimony Angel Huggins stated, “He disappeared again.” She said in her clear, confident voice, “The next time I saw him, he was driving a white Ford Explorer.”

The courtroom viewers stirred and whispered to each other.

Court recessed, concluding the first full day of testimony.

When Wednesday, January 27, 1999, dawned, the Florida sun beamed through curtained windows of the Jacksonville Residence Inn, starting the new day brightly for the Orlando lawyers, who were pleased with the new sunny day replacing the previous dreary weather.

“Hey, Ted,” Jeff Ashton called out to his partner. “Time to rise and shine if we want breakfast before court. You know Perry can be a stickler for punctuality.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Culhan agreed, appearing in the doorway, knotting his necktie. “At least we’ve got some sunshine today.”

Ashton replied, “Things do appear better. Look out the window and see the beauty of the river. They really get some big ships coming into this port.”

“Yeah, too bad we have to spend the day in that dungeon. I never saw a courtroom so dark and dingy. It’s depressing.”

“You’ve got that right,” Ashton replied.

After a hearty breakfast and several cups of coffee, Ashton leaned back in his chair. “Are you ready for a big day?” he asked.

“Yes, I am. I’m anxious to hear Angel Huggins continue her testimony. She’s doing a good job.”

“I agree. And she’s sure adding some feminine charm to the proceedings. She’s certainly very attractive. I’ve heard that people see a Marilyn Monroe resemblance, but I don’t see it.”

“Oh, well, I don’t, either, but she’s on our side. That’s what matters.” Ted Culhan laughed.

Jeff Ashton checked his watch. “We’d better move it. Don’t want to be late.”

When court convened, the intensive cross-examination began. The defense pressed Angel Huggins, accusing her of masterminding a frame-up of her husband, John.

Angel, stretching her seated position to her full height, indignantly disputed the accusation. “I never framed John in any way,” she flung back at the defense counsel.

The defense attorney contended that Angel, blistering with rage that her sister had an affair with John Huggins, was determined to have her revenge against him.

Defense lawyers Bob Wesley and Tyrone King also came up with a side issue, accusing Angel of seeking an escape of pending charges of drunk driving against her by testifying against Huggins.

Angel Huggins vehemently denied that she requested or received any special treatment.

Her testimony was concluded.

 

 

In December 1998, in preparation for the trial, Jeff Ashton went to Sumter County to take a deposition from Jonathon Huggins, John Huggins’s eleven-year-old son.

In his deposition young Huggins stated that John Huggins, his estranged wife, Angel, and their kids came from Melbourne to Orlando in June 1997 in Angel’s car on a visit to Gatorland. They stayed at the Days Inn on Route 192, which was across the street from the Publix market.

Importantly, Jonathon stated in his deposition to Ashton that his father was not with them on the afternoon of June 10 when they left to return to Melbourne.

Before the trial began, defense counsel Bob Wesley requested of Ashton that young Jonathon not be put on the witness stand and subjected to the stress of testifying.

As a father, Jeff Ashton readily agreed, but he got approval and consent to read into the record the deposition that Jonathon gave him.

In that deposition, the boy also described the SUV his father was driving later that day, giving details of the vehicle and describing it as a Ford Explorer.

John Huggins sat stolidly through the reading of the deposition, showing no reaction to his son’s words.

The state called in a steady parade of Centex Rooney employees, Walt Disney World workers, various landscapers and others who saw a white Ford Explorer on June 10 coming out of the woods, driving along the highway or traveling rapidly over the territory near the site where Carla Larson was last seen and where her body was later found.

Among the great number of witnesses were Centex Rooney employees Cindy Garris, Gary Wilson and son Brad, and Barry O’Hearne and Milton Johnson of Dora Landscaping, all accounting what they saw. Also testifying was Disney World’s Reedy Creek serviceman in charge of roadway maintenance, Tommy Sparks.

Culhan showed an aerial photo of the area to Barry O’Hearne, who was landscaping in the area on June 10, 1997. He also had seen the vehicle, and he stated that it was driven by a white male.

When defense lawyer Bob Wesley cross-examined O’Hearne, he dwelled on whether the male driver wore sunglasses.

“Yes, it looked like he was.”

“And you also described him as being dark-skinned, is that correct?”

“Well, that was probably just from the windows.”

Wesley continued questioning. “Okay, but you told the police that this individual had a dark complexion, is that correct?”

“Well, that isn’t how I meant it. Maybe kind of looked tanned. Not dark as a dark person.”

“Okay, so this person was kind of tanned to you, had a darker complexion, wasn’t a pale person?”

“Right.”

Over several days other Centex Rooney employees, as well as Disney World workers, testified, recounting the search for Carla Larson and the subsequent discovery of her body.

Questioned by Jeff Ashton, John Ricker described how he and Michael Munson went about their arduous trek through the brush, then met the Disney employee Tommy Sparks, who had seen a white vehicle parked in the brush and directed them to the area. Ricker talked about the foul odor and their using the cigarette lighter to follow the wind direction to the final discovery of Carla’s body.

The prosecutors and defense attorneys argued over the admission into evidence of photos of Carla Larson’s body as it appeared when the witnesses found her.

Wesley’s objection was to the use of color pictures. “I think it can be described without photographs. Or (with) alternatives, such as black-and-white photographs, which make less prejudicial impact on the jury.”

Culhan countered, stating, “This photograph depicts the condition the body was discovered in. The body is covered up with debris and is fairly accurate, without being a gruesome photograph of what they saw when they came upon the body.”

Judge Perry ruled, “Okay. As to this picture, objection will be overruled.”

In his cross-examination, Wesley asked Ricker for a total review of his search of the area, without any mention of the discovery of the body.

The courtroom spectators stirred with interest and speculation when the bailiff called the next witness. They whispered, asking, “Who is he and why is he here?”

ASA Ted Culhan greeted him and asked, “Could you please tell us your name?”

“Jeffrey Alan Shrader.”

“How are you employed?”

Shrader said that he worked in landscaping at Disney World and that he was employed there in December 1997.

Culhan asked that Shrader identify the location where he and others worked on December 24, 1997, and to explain the cleanup work that his crew did.

Shrader described the area where they worked that day as the grassy section leading onto Osceola Parkway. Culhan elicited from Shrader that in the course of his cleanup, he came upon a discarded purse.

Shrader said he opened the purse and saw that it contained Carla Larson’s driver’s license and a Discover credit card. When Shrader realized what he found, he set the purse back down, called his supervisor over and showed him the purse, explaining his find.

Culhan asked, “Other than the driver’s license and the Discover card, did you touch anything else?”

Shrader shook his head. “Not that I am aware of.”

With permission, the prosecutor approached the witness, showing him a photo that was marked state’s exhibit “GG.” “Do you recognize what’s contained in that photograph, sir?”

Shrader nervously clenched his hands, recalling the incident of his find. “Yes, sir.” He named the driver’s license and Discover credit card.

He identified another state exhibit as the purse he found. He also confirmed that these items appeared to be as he initially saw them.

In answer to a question about any other items discovered, Shrader described finding an empty prescription bottle with a November date on it. (Subsequent investigation revealed it had no connection to the Larson case. Someone had simply thrown it away.)

The prosecutor showed Shrader a photograph of the area where the landscapers were working and had found the purse. It was the area where many eyewitnesses had seen the Ford Explorer entering Osceola Parkway. Shrader identified the photo as accurate.

The witness, who had never been involved in anything as serious as this case, sat uneasily and faced the prosecutor, hoping for the conclusion of his ordeal.

Prosecutors showed Shrader an aerial photo of the specific area, and he stated that it was an accurate depiction.

Culhan asked that these photo items be admitted into evidence.

The prosecutor then asked Shrader to point out on the photograph exactly where he found the purse.

Silently Shrader complied.

Culhan followed with a request to introduce the actual purse, complete with its contents as it was discovered.

Defense attorney Wesley objected, stating, “The purse, if full of baby pictures, receipts, other things, might be prejudicial to Mr. Huggins because they tend to evoke sympathy from the jury.”

Culhan responded, “I think the jury has the right to see the purse the way it was discovered on the side of the road.”

The defense answered, pressing the point, “Some of those items are inflammatory. The things inside, the baby pictures, notes and things like that, go back to the jury room and cause the jury to make a decision based on emotion rather than facts.”

Defense attorney King, anxious to add his weight to his partner’s protestations, voiced his objection. “Your Honor, the defense objects to all of the exhibits. There is argument as to each piece.”

Judge Perry called the attorneys to the bench for a sidebar. They reached an agreement to have a study made of the individual items from the purse.

In Wesley’s cross-examination of Shrader, he asked questions about the landscaping of the area leading to the finding of the purse. He went on with further questions about the contents. When asked, the witness admitted that when the purse was opened, “things came out. I think like lipsticks and stuff.”

At the conclusion of the testimony, the court broke for lunch. Judge Perry gave the jury the usual admonishment not to discuss the case.

Ashton and Culhan left the courthouse and headed for a nearby restaurant. As they walked briskly together, Ashton said, “It’s good to be getting even this little exercise. It feels great to be outdoors, to breathe some fresh air.”

“Yeah, but that wind coming off the river can go right through you. I’m glad the restaurant isn’t far,” Culhan replied.

“You must be living too soft a life.” Ashton laughed.

“Maybe.” Culhan chuckled in agreement. “Anyhow, we’d better stoke up. We’ve got a long, detailed afternoon facing us.”

“Don’t remind me.”