Luke Woodham
|
Luke Woodham |
Cases May Be Tried Separately Two of Six Teens Charged Boyette Was Ring Leader
Grant Boyette, 18, and Justin Sledge, 16, pleaded innocent
Friday to two counts of accessory before the fact of murder in
connection with Oct. 1 slayings at Pearl High School. They could be
sentenced to life if convicted in the Feb. 9 trial scheduled by
Circuit Judge Samac Richardson.
Attorneys for Sledge may try to distance themselves from
Boyette, the alleged ringleader of a group known as the “Kroft,”
which prosecutors claim spent months planning the high school
killings.
Woodham was indicted and charged with murder,
aggravated assault and murder conspiracy. In total six students have been charged with murder conspiracy. In discussions before the arraignments, Sledge’s lawyers asked
why the cases were grouped together.
Woodham, 16, has been charged with stabbing his mother with a
butcher knife then gunning down classmates later at the school,
killing two.
“We habitually have people co-indicted because they are related
cases,” assistant district attorney Jim Kelly said.
The judge, in setting a single trial date, said he will decide
later if the cases will be separated.
Sledge and Boyette were among six teens charged with murder
conspiracy a week after the deaths of two Pearl High coeds.
Sledge’s case was transferred to youth court, but with the
indictment he was returned to adult court.
The two wore arm and leg chains during their court appearances
in Rankin County. At one point, Sledge held out his chained arms,
looked into the crowd and shook his head side to side. As he was
escorted away, he mouthed “I love you,” to his parents who sat in
the back of the courtroom.
His mother, Sherry Sledge, closed her eyes and fought back
tears. His parents refused to comment afterwards.
Before the charges were filed, Mrs. Sledge had told The
Associated Press that Woodham handed her son some notes shortly
before the killings.
“He could tell he had a blank look. He said ‘give these to
Grant (Boyette).’ That’s the only four words he said,” she said.
Her son “never even looked at the material,” she said, and was
shocked by the killings.
“He could not believe what he was seeing before his eyes,” she
said.
In Woodham’s purported manifesto, he said Oct. 1 “shall go down
in history as the day I fought back.”
Prosecutors contend the group “Kroft” has met at Woodham’s
house, where they practiced satanic worship and talked about
murdering. An assistant district attorney at Friday’s hearing
carried the book “Ritual Crime.”
Boyette was the ring leader who called himself “father,”
officials have said.
Don Cabana, a University of Southern Mississippi criminal
justice professor, said he is not surprised that Sledge’s attorneys
may request separate trials.
“I’d be shocked at any other strategy. I’d be trying to
distance myself from this kid. I’d try to show ... he had the
maturity, he was the influence on the others,” he said.
Cabana said all the defendants may have a hard time separating
themselves from Woodham.
“Luke Woodham is not going to end up hanging by himself.
There’s no question about that,” he said.
