Jury hears conflicting tales in shooting of missionaries

CHESAPEAKE

As rain fell the evening of Jan. 2, 2006, Morgan Young and Joshua Heidbrink chained their bikes to a signpost on Elkhart Street and set out on foot in the Deep Creek community.

"They were doing what young men and wome n have been doing for centuries - witnessing their faith to anyone who would listen," Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney D.J. Hansen told a jury in Chesapeake Circuit Court on Monday.

The two Mormon missionaries were busy proselytizing door to door, unaware that a neighborhood dispute over $80 in drug money was escalating into violence on the very street they were on. After hearing the first sound of gunfire, the missionaries found themselves staring at a hooded gunman.

"Mr. Heidbrink put his hands up and said: 'We didn't see anything,' " Hansen told the jury. "The next thing he sees is a flash."

Heidbrink, 19, of Greeley, Colo., was shot in the shoulder. Young, 21, of Bountiful, Utah, died from a 9 mm gunshot to the head. The gunman fled.

In their opening statements, the defense and prosecution agreed on many of the events leading up to the shooting - but not on the identity of the hooded gunman.

Hansen said James Boughton Jr., a 21-year-old Camelot man, was the gunman in the crimes. Boughton is on trial for first-degree murder, malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding and three counts of use of a firearm.

"Nobody else but the defendant, ladies and gentlemen, committed these crimes," Hansen told the jury. "And that's what our evidence will show you."

A dispute in the neighborhood was brewing between Gregory Banks Jr. and a teen by the name of Mario Felton who owed him money, according to prosecutors. Felton had not paid Banks and the two had a physical fight a day earlier.

The prosecution contends that Felton and his friend, Boughton, decided to visit Banks the next day at his home on Elkhart Street to "teach Mr. Banks a lesson."

"They were going to go over and rough him up," Hansen said.

Banks was leaving his house that night when he was jumped from behind. The attacker fired a single shot at Banks, then fled down the street, crossing paths with the missionaries.

Andrew Sacks, Boughton's attorney, told the jury the gunman that night wasn't his client, pointing out that Felton had more of a reason to want to shoot Banks. Sacks said Felton initially admitted to police that he had fired the murder weapon three times that night and had hid it. He said Felton also made incriminating statements to a third party.

Sacks said he will present evidence about another man who told a government informant about shooting at three people in Deep Creek.

In his opening statement, Sacks told the jury that the prosecution's case will create more questions than answers about who shot the missionaries. None of the victims could identify the hooded gunman.

"The evidence in this case will show an innocent man sits in that chair," Sacks said, pointing to Boughton.

He told the jury his client has an alibi from about 4 to 8 p.m. the night of the shooting. He was at the home of a Camelot family, he said.

"James pleaded not guilty, ladies and gentlemen, because he's not guilty," Sacks said.

The trial is to resume today.

John Hopkins, (757) 222-5221, john.hopkins@pilotonline.com