The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Unshakable over four hours of testimony, former Navy SEAL trainee Billy Joe Brown insisted under oath Wednesday that he and he alone murdered Georgia college student Jennifer Evans outside an Oceanfront bar in 1995.
Brown and his SEAL "swim buddy" Dustin Turner were both convicted of the slaying and sentenced to long prison terms in highly publicized trials in 1996.
Turner, 33, has petitioned for release based on Brown's confession, first given in a prison interview in 2002. If Turner is successful, he would be the first Virginia prisoner released under a 2004 law allowing introduction of new nonbiological evidence after sentencing.
Wednesday's hearing in Circuit Court brought Turner and Brown, 35, together for the first time since their trials. Clad in identical orange prison jumpsuits, they sat 15 feet apart as Brown testified before a hushed, packed courtroom.
Based on the evidence from this hearing, which concludes today, Judge Frederick Lowe will rule within 30 days on the credibility of Brown's confession. The Virginia Court of Appeals will then decide whether Turner should be released.
At the time of the murder, Brown and Turner blamed each other for the crime. Under questioning, Turner admitted helping cover it up and led police to the body in a wooded Newport News park.
Brown said Wednesday that he came forward to take full responsibility for the murder after becoming a born-again Christian in prison.
"I'm here to glorify Jesus Christ by telling the truth," he testified.
He admitted to lying repeatedly in police interrogations and on the witness stand during his trial, when he gave several conflicting accounts of the incident.
The state attorney general's office, which is opposing Turner's petition for release, argues that Brown's multiple and changing accounts undermine his credibility now.
Becoming a Christian changed his frame of mind, Brown testified: "I knew immediately in my heart I had to tell, even though I didn't want to."
Asked why he didn't want to, Brown replied: "How would you feel, standing up before the whole world and saying you were not only a murderer and a liar, but you betrayed your best friend?"
Brown retold his confession in a calm, soft-spoken voice, never deviating from the 2002 version but admitting his memory is spotty because he was drinking heavily at the time of the murder. He said he had also regularly used marijuana and steroids.
He said he left the Bayou bar near closing time and found Evans, who was vacationing in Virginia Beach with friends, sitting with Turner in Turner's car in the parking lot. He got in and squeezed into the rear seat behind Evans. "I was talking to them and started playing with her hair," he said. "One minute I was normal, and the next minute I snapped and started choking her.... There was no reason, no rhyme, no nothing."
At one point Turner tried to pull his arm away, but it was too late, Brown said. Evans was dead.
Then, he said, "I told Dusty to drive," and passed out in the back seat until they reached the park where they dumped the body.
Asked why he lied to the police and jury, Brown sai d: "I didn't care. Commit one crime, commit a million. It didn't matter to me. I had no conscience."
Asked what he thinks will happen to him now, Brown said: "Whatever the good Lord wills. I'm not worried... because I have a clean heart before God."
Turner, testifying after Brown, said the murder "happened all at once. It was with enough force that the whole vehicle shook....
"I just drove. I didn't know what else to do. I had a distorted sense of loyalty to my swim buddy."
Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com
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Swim Buddy Huh?
I am sick of this Navy Seal macho crap! He helped his "swim Bud" dumped the body off into the woods like a pile of garbage and then watched his swim bud have sex with the corpse.He only turned in his swim bud after he was caught;
Good Example For Using Discernment In Picking Friends
The two convicts who killed Jennifer Evans are no different from the two convicts who killed the Harvey family in Richmond. The city of Virginia Beach seeded a scholarship at Emory in Jennifer's memory just over $16,000. In the "mayfly" style of reporting "at a Virginia beach bar", it occurred in The Bayou parking lot, a now defunct bar at the old Radisson on 19th Street in the old "circuit days" of Rogue's, Jamaican Johnny's, Worrell Brothers, Cafe Loco, Wahoo's, Gators, The Roxx, and the embattled yet famous "Block". While we are empathetic to Dusty's family and their plight, have they been kicking back, hoping for an "activist judge" to overturn Jennifer's justice. Is there any light the Pilot can shed on what these two families have done, if anything, to assist the Evans family either in service or other non-monetary compensation? The Evans are in control here. "Faith without works, is dead."
What is fair when something so unfair happens in our lives?
All I will say is that I was in a unique position to get to know both of these individuals back in '95-96. I always believed that Brown was the killer. I also believe that Turner made many very costly mistakes that night. I'm sure the parents of Jennifer have had pleanty of time to weigh all the facts of this nightmare. I hope they have a chance to have their opinions heard. I also hope they can forgive the man that really was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong idea of "brotherhood". Wasting another life is not the way to even this score. God will have the final say in all of our lives and I do believe that Turner did not take Jennifers. I will say a prayer for all the parties involved in this tragety that the right decision is made.
DUSTY TURNER is INNOCENT of Murder!
Reading some of these comments, I realize that a lot of people have a preconceived idea of what happened the night Jennifer Evans was killed. She was a beautiful young girl tragically taken away from her family and this world. She will never be forgotten.
The world needs young women like her and it is especially excruciating for her family, their only daughter.
Our family thinks and prays for hers everyday.
It is extremely painful for my family too.
Dusty is my cousin and he has been more like a brother as our family is incredibly close.
Dusty's mother (my aunt) and I have been with him from the beginning, his account never waivered. I know he is truthful as he told me through tears what happened back in 1995. This is an incredibly torturing experience for everyone touched by the tragedy.
Dusty and Jennifer hit it off as friends and would probably still be friends today IF he hadn't been paired up by the military with unconscionable Billy Joe Brown.
As a young 20 year old in intense SEAL training Dusty told of accounts that soldiers would be punished for leaving their Swim buddy, It was drilled in their head "NEVER leave your buddy, Dead, wounded or alive!"
On th
Maybe read the article again before posting comments?
Dusty has NEVER changed his story. He DID not kill anyone only helped to dispose of the body (at Billy's request) so he should have been convicted as an accessory after the fact which carries a maximum of 12 months in jail. Dusty has served 12 YEARS and deserves to be free to live his life.
If you would like to read more about what has happened you can go to FreeDusty.com
Our Justice System Should Be About Getting It Right
If Mr. Turner did not kill this innocent young lady, then he is not guilty of murder, and should not be subject to that punishment.
I agree with a previous opinion that if he helped "dump" her body, then that sounds, to this non-lawyer, like he would be guilty of being an accessory of some sort. And he should face the punishment specified for that offense.
But our justice system should not be about which side "wins." There are no winners here. A family has lost a daughter, and two more families have, essentially, lost their sons.
Our justice system should be about The Truth, Justice, and Getting The Answer Right. If Mr. Turner did not kill this girl, then vacate that erroneous conviction. If Mr. Turner is guilty of being an accessory, then convict and punish him for that offense.
Our justice system needs to be less about lawyering, obtuse procedures, and conviction percentage rates and more about true guilt or innocence.
Remain in jail
It does not matter who committed the crime and who was the accompolish the both should remain in jail for the entire length of their sentence. Maybe put them both in the same cell.
are paid to serve them
are paid to serve them
This "Swim Buddy Loyalty" stuff is OK
in combat and in everyday legal situations, but when it comes to illegal activity (as in MURDER), all bets are off. Turner wasn't smart enough (or was too drunk) to make that determination. These guys were supposedly the type of people who would maintain their cool under highly stressful situations. Turner panicked and drove away with the dead girl instead getting out of the car and reporting the incident immediately, Swim Buddy Loyalty or no. He's paying the price.
Turner and Brown both "dumped" Jennifers body.
So Brown admits he killed Jennifer Evans and Turner did NOTHING to stop him. Then Turner and Brown "dumped" Jennifer's body as though it was a piece of trash they could throw away without any second thoughts. Both these scum of the earths are exactly where they should be as long as they are alive. Their cell walls should be plastered with pictures of Jennifer and her mourning family to help them recall every single day the hurt and pain they have inflicted on Jennifer's family. I hope Turner and Brown suffer every day and I hope the pain of their actions make their miserable existence too much to bare. The only way either of these scums should ever be released from prison is if they find a way to bring Jennifer back and stop the pain of her family and friends. It's a shame they didn't both get the death penalty for killing Jennifer. After all, that's the sentence they gave her. Anyone that holds life so cheaply as these two worthless scums should never be released to the public again.