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 Life
Without Parole In Gay Murder
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: May 9, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Bay Minette, Alabama) A 22 year old man was
sentenced Wednesday for his part in the robbery and killing of gay Bay Minette
man in 2004.
Last month - a week before his
trial was to begin - Christopher Gaines changed his plea from
not guilty to guilty in the slaying of 18-year-old Scotty Joe
Weaver.
Under Alabama law even though a
guilty plea is entered a jury must still hear a capital murder
case.
District Attorney Judy Newcomb
told the court that Gaines wrapped a rope around Weaver's neck
and squeezed.
The jury deliberated less than
a half hour to convict Gaines.
He is one of three people
charged in the killing. Each had opted for separate
trials and Gaines was the first to be heard.
Nichole Kelsay, 21, and Robert
Holly Lofton Porter, 21 also are charged with capital murder.
Newcomb said Weaver was killed
partly because he is gay.
Neither the prosecution nor the
defense attorneys would speculate on Monday if Gaines will
testify at the trials of the other two.
Weaver was attacked and
murdered in his trailer home in July 2004. He was 18 years
old.
His body was then carted to a
quiet dirt road where his killers set it on fire and then
casually drove off, after robbing him of between $65 and $80.
A man driving an all-terrain
vehicle discovered Weaver's severely burned and decomposed
body
Two of the accused, Gaines and
Kelsay were Weaver's roommates. Porter is described as a
friend of the pair who spent a considerable amount of time at
Weaver's home.
Police said all three suspects
were out of work, and Weaver was paying the bills at their
home.
Gaines and Kelsay apparently
had a romantic relationship with each other, investigators
said, adding that it appeared the trio plotted Weaver's death
several days before the killing.
©365Gay.com 2007
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