blackburn draws additional 22 year sentenc

Monday, May 21, 2007

Blackburn Draws Additional Twenty Two Year Sentence

Judge Robert Jones ruled that Waynesboro resident William Keith Blackburn should be sentenced to an additional 22 years in connection with the brutal robbery and murder of a stranded motorist in June of last year.

Blackburn, 35, was indicted by a Lawrence County Grand Jury on charges of first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery in connection with the June 9, 2006, beating death of William Evon Strickland,56, of 109 Pointer Road, Waynesboro.

Strickland and son Heath had left their home that day, headed to Spring Hill to pick up younger son Cody. A flat tire caused them to pull over onto the shoulder of U.S. Highway 64 West, near the Chisholm Creek Road intersection. Due to the fact that they did not have the correct tire tool with them, they were unable to change the tire.

A trio of Waynesboro residents, including Blackburn, stopped shortly thereafter to offer assistance. Heath Strickland testified that he rode with the couple to nearby Self’s Market to find a tire tool, while Blackburn stayed behind at the van with his father.

When they returned shortly, witnesses testified that Blackburn was alone. Heath testified that Blackburn stated his father had accepted a ride with a motorist back to Waynesboro to get a tire tool, and instructed him to wait there for his return.

After his father failed to return, Heath indicated he returned to Waynesboro for the night. He and brother Anthony picked up Cody the following morning, then returned to the area to conduct a search. Cody, age 15, discovered his father’s body, face down in a brush pile, approximately 150 yards southwest of the highway.

Law enforcement personnel testified that Evon Strickland had been beaten with a tree limb found lying nearby.

State Medical Examiner Bruce Levy, who conducted an autopsy, testified that Strickland had sustained a minimum of six blows to the head. He had incurred numerous injuries including a broken nose, brain damage and bleeding, scrapes and bruises, and two cuts to the back of the head that measured in excess of four inches apiece. Many scrapes and bruises, Levy said, were inflicted post-mortem.

After deliberating for around five hours total, jurors returned a verdict of guilty against Blackburn on both charges. They affixed a fine of $50,000. The first degree murder conviction carried an automatic life sentence, while a sentencing hearing was scheduled for last Friday on the especially aggravated robbery conviction.

District Attorney Mike Bottoms asked Jones to consider the maximum penalty of 25 years on the robbery charge. He requested that Jones allow the sentences to run consecutively, rather than concurrently, to ensure that Blackburn be incarcerated for the maximum amount of time possible. Bottoms argued that Blackburn could be allowed to draw consecutive sentences due to the fact that the offenses had been committed while he was on parole for other crimes.

Jones noted that Blackburn’s criminal record began in 2003, but indicated that his past record did not warrant classifying him as a “dangerous offender.”

After hearing proof from both sides, Jones opted to impose the 22 year sentence, and allow that sentence to run concurrently with the life sentence.