Jury to get Chesapeake slaying case today

CHESAPEAKE

The knowns in the violent death of Karen Kittell are few but powerful.

A bullet to the back of the head killed her in the master-suite bathroom of her Greenbrier home late the night of Jan. 24. Eric Spencer Baugher, who called Kittell his girlfriend, was there.

A Circuit Court jury today will be asked to fill in the rest.

Both sides finished presenting evidence Wednesday in the week long murder trial of Baugher, 36, of Norfolk.

The jury must decide whether the killing of Kittell, 46, was an execution-style slaying by Baugher.

Or was it an accident? Baugher has given two stories to police, psychologists and the jury: A handgun fired during sex play that included simulated-violence role playing, or he tried to stop an upset Kittell from killing herself.

Or was - and is - Baugher insane due to years of heavy drinking and drug use, and therefore not legally responsible for his actions, as his lawyers contend?

For that, the jury will have to choose between competing psychologists' opinions.

Three psychologists evaluated Baugher. Earle Williams II, a defense witness, concluded that Baugher suffered from "settled insanity" now and at the time of the shooting.

That refers to permanent brain damage from years of substance abuse that prevents people from knowing what they're doing. It's not known whether the defense has ever succeeded in Virginia; lawyers Wednesday didn't know whether a Virginia jury has been allowed to consider it.

But two psychologists called by prosecutors said later Wednesday that they concluded the opposite: Baugher was sane at the time of Kittell's death.

Alana Hollings and David Keenan said they found that Baugher drank heavily - as much as a case of beer in a day, Baugher family and friends testified - and suffered possible mood disorders such as depression, but not brain damage or delusions or, more pertinent in court, the inability to distinguish between right and wrong.

The two disagreed with Williams' use of one well-known psychological personality test to help determine sanity.

Hollings noted Baugher's assertion that after the shooting he called Kittell's name twice, got no response, and immediately called 911, a tape of which the jury heard Tuesday.

"Those are very appropriate decisions at that time," Hollings said.

Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-5221, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com