DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — Jurors have found a Walton County man guilty of killing a couple to further a marijuana growing operation.
He now faces the death sentence when a penalty phase commences.
After three weeks of testimony and a full day of closing arguments, jurors found Barry Davis Jr., 34, guilty Monday in a “no body” murder trial after a little more than two hours of deliberation. Davis also was found guilty of numerous other charges related to the deaths of John “Gregory” Hughes, of Santa Rosa Beach, and Hiedi Rhodes, of Panama City Beach, neither of whom have been seen or heard from since May 7, 2012.
Tiffani Steward, former girlfriend and the mother of Davis’ child, said she felt “relief” as the verdict was being read. Steward testified she was present the night of the slayings.
“I just hope the family will finally get closure, and I will get closure myself,” she said.
Prosecutor Bobby Elmore faced what seemed like an uphill battle since the bodies of neither Hughes nor Rhodes were ever recovered.
Elmore used bank account records, cellphone records and the lack of contact with friends and family to argue Davis killed the couple. Many family members were present Monday for closing arguments in the trial of Davis when Elmore made a final push to convince jurors that Davis killed the couple and robbed Hughes’ home “down to the very last salt shaker” in order to have enough money to assemble a marijuana growing business.
“If everyone lived happily ever after, then why have they never been heard from again?” Elmore asked. “Why did (Davis) go back and take everything (Hughes) owned and why did he take Hiedi Rhodes’ dog she never parted with? … Because no one lived happily ever after.”
Elmore argued Rhodes was collateral damage in a robbery attempt that turned deadly, after which Davis dismembered and chopped up both of the couple’s bodies and burned the pieces.
Davis did not testify on his own behalf during the trial.
Defense attorney Spiro Kypreos highlighted the inconsistencies in the stories told by witnesses, to whom Davis allegedly admitted the killing. He compared the lies told by the state’s witnesses told against Davis to lies told in the Salem witch trials. Kypreos mostly attempted to puncture the testimony of the key witness, Steward, who claimed to be in Hughes’ home at the time.
Kypreos said the inconsistencies in her story could be explained by her fear — not of Davis — but of serving prison time for possibly being considered an accomplice.
“She’s always eager to make her testimony fit the state theory … and she always does,” Kypreos said. “Give her an idea and, if she thinks long enough and hard enough, she’ll come up with a story.”
Steward told jurors that the night of May 7, 2012, she and Davis went to Hughes’ home unannounced so Davis could collect on a drug debt. Hughes invited them into his home for dinner and margaritas, she said.
Steward told jurors she and Rhodes left to get margarita mix, only to find Hughes motionless and bleeding on the floor when they returned. Steward said Davis then grabbed Rhodes by the throat until she slipped into unconsciousness. He then bound both Hughes and Rhodes and submerged their head in a bathtub, she testified.
Davis would later return to collect their bodies, chop them up and burn them at his own home, the state argued.
However, Davis’ attorney said Davis and Hughes discussed business that night before amicably parting. Hughes even allowed him to leave with his Cadillac Escalade, Kypreos said.
Kypreos also said that when two independent human remain detection dogs, also called cadaver dogs, alerted on the Escalade, they were actually smelling blood from some previous incident.
“The name ‘cadaver dog’ is misleading,” Kypreos said. “They are trained to detect remains — bones or blood, as in this case.”
A cadre of people who helped Davis in some way after May 7 told investigators they feared Davis and misled law enforcement under his direction, including a group who assisted in removing Hughes’ possessions from his home. In total, authorities said they recovered more than $18,000 in Hughes’ property from Davis’ home.
Authorities also claimed Davis forged about $16,000 worth of Hughes’ checks for moving Hughes out of his house and “property maintenance.” Those funds went toward planting the seeds of a business, the prosecution said.
“He was broke,” Elmore said. “He couldn’t even turn his lights on, but here comes the future. He took Hughes’ money to build the marijuana grow room.”
Prosecutors also claimed a trail of cellphone calls and texts highlighted the truths of witness testimony and traced Davis’ actions in the days and weeks after the killings of Hughes and Rhodes as investigators attempted to close in on Davis.
Davis previously was acquitted of stealing a 2008 Corvette from Hughes following his disappearance. Jurors on Monday found Davis guilty of 15 counts of robbery, theft and fraud to attain Hughes’ possessions, including first-degree premeditated murder of Hughes and Rhodes.
Circuit Court Judge Kelvin Wells was expected to give the jury a day off and resume the penalty phase Wednesday to determine if Davis will be sentenced to death.
Steward said she did not think a person who takes another’s life should have to give their own life as a penalty.
“He should have to think about what he’s done every day for the rest of his life,” she said. “My son will never know his father because of his decision. I just hope he can find peace within himself and find God.”