Man guilty of lesser charges in death of NSU security guard

VIRGINIA BEACH

Blood pooled on the pink carpet of an upstairs bedroom where 69-year-old Lettrelle Thornton was beaten and strangled early on March 1, 2008.

Her live-in girlfriend, Pamela Campbell, paced outside their Pollypine Drive townhouse while investigators swept the property for evidence. Campbell had discovered Thornton's body.

Detective Tim Jones took in the scene. Then he drove an emotional Campbell to police headquarters, where they spoke on and off for the next four hours.

Campbell was not the person who battered Thornton, the detective decided. Her hair was in place, her manicured nails without a single chip.

So began a 10-month investigation that included phone records, bank accounts, insurance policies and credit cards - all of which suggested a contract killing, said Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Scott Lang.

Authorities alleged that Campbell hired her unemployed brother, 39-year-old Tony Smith, to kill Thornton while she was home alone.

Police arrested the siblings in January 2009; authorities later withdrew charges against Campbell but retained the right to refile them.

After a three-day trial this week, a Circuit Court jury on Thursday convicted Smith of conspiracy and aggravated malicious wounding in Thornton's death. They found him not guilty of first-degree murder.

Lang told jurors that Campbell wanted her girlfriend dead for the tens of thousands of dollars in life insurance she stood to get - a portion of which, Lang said, she probably promised to Smith.

Witness testimony, credit card receipts and cell phone records presented in court told the story of Thornton's final night. Authorities documented half a dozen calls between Campbell and Smith in the hours before the slaying - and put Smith within several hundred yards of the townhouse at the time of the attack.

Thornton and Campbell had attended a surprise birthday party for a long time friend that evening. They listened to music, played cards, had a few drinks, and posed for a photo together.

Thornton tired first; she'd spent all day Friday at Norfolk State University, where she worked as a security guard. Campbell walked Thornton to her car around midnight, then headed back to the party for a few more card games.

By 12:15 a.m. Saturday, Thornton was home, where she briefly spoke to Campbell by phone.

Thornton would not use her cell phone again. Campbell's and her brother's cell phones remained quiet for the next 15 minutes, but the siblings spoke again at 12:33 a.m.

Three hours later, Thornton lay dead at the hospital. Campbell was at the police station with Detective Jones. Smith was at Johnny's Diner in Norfolk. A few hours later, he was on a westbound bus.

Almost a year passed before Jones and another Virginia Beach detective showed up on Smith's doorstep in Texas.

In initial interviews, Smith told police he had been at home in bed with his wife the night Thornton was killed. Later, he said he'd gone to Pennsylvania to hook up with a married woman. The bus had stopped in Norfolk.

Detectives later tracked the prepaid cell phone he used on his trip to Virginia, the detectives testified. They had his credit card transactions. They returned to Texas and arrested him. Under questioning, they testified, Smith admitted that he'd been hired to kill Thornton but had second thoughts.

Smith said he hit her once in the head with a baseball bat. She was moaning when he left. He refused to say more until he met with a prosecutor. Smith wanted a deal. But he went mum when he was extradited to Virginia.

His attorney, James Broccoletti, argued that Smith made no effort to conceal his trip to Virginia Beach and that the cell phone records were unreliable. He also noted that the confession was not recorded, although other interviews were. Further, he said, there were discrepancies between detectives' summaries of interviews and the recordings. Those issues cast reasonable doubt, he said.

Lang said it was incredible to suggest detectives made up and testified to a story about a partial confession.

The verdict pleased attorneys on both sides.

"It corresponds to what the defendant confessed to," Lang said.

Smith faces 21 years to life on the two charges. Jurors recommended 50. His formal sentencing is set for May.

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5131, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com