http://www.4029tv.com/news/opening-a...trial/29786680
Opening arguments begin for machete murder suspect's trial
(Nov. 18, 2014) FORT SMITH, Ark. - Monday the murder trial began for Gregory Aaron Kinsey.
Kinsey is charged with two counts of capital murder for the deaths of Nathan Young and Brandon Prince.
The jury - five men and seven women heard opening arguments this morning.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Linda Ward told jurors that on the night of June 26, 2013, Kinsey used a 18-inch long machete to chop the victims to death.
Ward said Kinsey "told them he was Satan" and he "chopped them until they were dead."
The prosecutor said that Brandon Prince died in the arms of his 15-year-old son. She told the jury Nathan Young fled from Kinsey, but he continued to attack, slashing Young in the back.
"It was premeditated, he deliberately killed them. It went beyond self defense," said Ward.
Defense attorney's told jurors there is little dispute about what happened.
The defense continued that while Kinsey is a "loner, and socially awkward," he was surrounded by aggressors.
Terri Chambers, Kinsey's public defender, said he thought he was "in a fight for his life and didn't want any of this to happen."
Chambers also said Young had a blood alcohol content greater than .20. And that Prince had a BAC of .10, and that both were legally drunk.
Chambers told jurors Kinsey acted in self defense.
She said, according to Arkansas law, he did not have to stop defending himself until he was "able to leave in complete safety."
"You don't kill somebody that didn't even touch you to defend yourself you know," said Brittany Seagroves, who is the daughter of Brandon Prince.
She and her grandmother, Pamela Hearne, were inside the court room. They both spoke exclusively to 40/29 News.
Hearne said, "it was sickening, I mean what I saw, it was unreal, un-human." [sic]
Fort Smith Police Detective Jeff Carter took the stand first in the high profile murder trial.
Carter was the lead investigator on the case.
The video taped interview Carter conducted with Kinsey just hours after he was arrested was played for jurors.
In the interview Kinsey said he only completed the 7th grade but did have a GED. He told the detectives he understood his rights.
Kinsey told Carter that he "started swinging" and that he "wasn't trying to kill them" but he could not stop swinging the machete.
Jurors then heard from Dr. Daniel Dye, a Criminal Pathologist who conducted autopsies on Prince and Young for the state medical examiner's office.
Dr. Dye testified that Brandon Prince had a single chop wound nearly 11 inches long from his left shoulder to his chest.
Dye said the blow severed an artery and that Prince bled to death.
The medical examiner said Nathan Young had eight to eleven chop wounds on his body. Three of those injuries were on his back, but the most severe was a slash to Young on the neck - just below the skull - which severed a main artery.
Next prosecutors called Nathan Maynard, who lived next door to Prince and Young on North D Street in Fort Smith.
Investigators referred to Maynard as an eye witness to the attacks.
Maynard testified that on the night of June 26, he saw Kinsey squat down behind the house of Nathan Young.
Maynard said when he, along with Young and Prince, questioned Kinsey he "said he was Satan and pulled out a machete."
Maynard testified that no one had any weapons other than Kinsey.
Maynard told the court that he is currently in jail on unrelated charges, and he did not have any promises of leniency in exchange for his testimony.
But during his cross examination by the defense, Maynard broke down, crying on the stand on several occasions. He said he could not remember exact details and yelled at defenders that the incident caused him to have post traumatic stress because of what Kinsey had done.
Maynard later admitted it was possible that some of his testimony might not be accurate.
Family members of Brandon Prince were also inside the court room.
The family, who were later interviewed by 40/29 News, struggled to hold back their emotions as they viewed autopsy photographs presented by the medical examiner.
"It was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do. It was horrible," said Seagroves.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Kinsey.
It's a verdict the Prince family says they are hoping for, "He's got 2 kids that don't have a daddy now and I don't have a son," said Hearne.
"I hope it turns out right, because if they let him go he'll do it again, no telling how many he'll kill."
The second day of testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.
http://5newsonline.com/2014/11/18/ma...er-as-he-died/
Prosecution Rests In Machete Murder Case
(Nov. 18, 2014) FORT SMITH (KFSM) ?The second day of the murder trial against a man accused of killing two others with a machete ended Tuesday afternoon with the prosecution resting its case.
The capital murder trial of Gregory Aaron Kinsey is scheduled to continue Wednesday morning in Sebastian County Circuit Court with defense witnesses. Prosecutors called their last witnesses Tuesday before court was recessed for the day early in the afternoon.
Day two began with the testimony of the teenage son of one of the slain men. Cole Prince, 16, recounted for jurors the night of the killing, saying he held his father in his arms as he died.
Cole Prince said his father Brandon Prince went to the store the night of June 26, 2013, returned to the house and went outside to smoke a cigarette. Cole Prince then heard his father scream and went outside to find Brandon Prince with machete wounds to his shoulder and hand.
Cole Prince testified he heard suspect Gregory Kinsey then say, "I shouldn?t have done this."
Prince ran to get a towel for his father and held him in his arms until he died, the son testified.
Kinsey is charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Brandon Prince and Nathan Young. Prosecutor Dan Shue said he is seeking the death penalty in the case.
Attorneys for both sides delivered opening statements Monday morning, before the prosecution moved on to calling witnesses. A medical examiner testified blood tests showed Prince had a .22 blood-alcohol level at the time of his death, while Young?s blood-alcohol level was .10.
A neighbor who said he witnessed the killing also testified and said Kinsey approached the men and told them, "I am Satan," before the altercation.
Kinsey's attorney said the suspect acted in self-defense during the incident, and he was provoked by Prince and Young, along with another man who survived the machete altercation.
Authorities found Prince and Young dead from extensive cuts outside a duplex on North D Street near downtown Fort Smith. Investigators said Kinsey killed both of them with a machete he was carrying at the time of his arrest. During his investigation, Kinsey told authorities he was walking home from the Dollar Store when he was approached by the group of three men who became argumentative.
Kinsey told police he attacked Prince and Young after he told them to back off and felt they wouldn't let him go. Kinsey has been behind bars, without bond, at the Sebastian County Detention Center since his arrest that night.
The trial comes after several resets in the case so that both sides could properly prepare. Authorities released surveillance video last year showing Kinsey at a nearby Dollar General buying paper towels, soda and tea bags the night of the incident. Moments later, police said he and two men fought in an alley near the store.
911 calls at the time indicate that the confrontation had turned violent.
911: "Where's your emergency?"
Caller: "I need an ambulance at 1618 North D like right now, I don't know what just happened someone is bleeding to death."
The 911 call continues, as a frantic neighbor describes the scene and comforts screaming children in the background.
Police found the bloody Dollar General bags inside Kinsey's home, according to court documents. They also seized several knives from his home.
According to the medical examiner, Young's cause of death was "multiple chop wounds," while Prince sustained "injury to axillary artery due to chop wound of left arm."
Video was also released of Kinsey interviewing with police after his arrest. In the video Kinsey offered his account of what happened, telling officers, "He (Nathan) asked me why I was creeping around in the shadows like that. I became angry. I tossed my bags and yelled and told him, 'Please, I don?t want to go to prison today.'"
Kinsey told police he had a clear mind at the time of the attack and once it began he described feeling like he was watching a movie.
"I remember he tried to flee, but I don't think I registered it at the time. I pursued him. I kept trying ... I wasn't trying to kill him. I was trying to incapacitate him. It's just once I started swinging, I just kept swinging," said Kinsey to police.
Judge Stephen Tabor issued what attorneys called a "partial gag order" in the case. The order blocked some photos from being released, including two photos of Young and Prince taken at the crime scene as well as photos from inside Kinsey's home.
Two videos from Kinsey?s cell phone were also blocked from being released.
Before the gag order was issued, though, photographs were released showing the inside of Kinsey's apartment, where walls were smeared with a red substance, showing finger-marks and handprints.
Originally Posted by Not your business
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