Accomplice says Horton killed brother

Adam Horton, 25, died after being stabbed a single time in the chest by his younger brother Christopher Horton, said the man serving a life sentence after his own 2009 conviction as a principal to the killing.
Jimmy Wright, who was living with Christopher Horton, and his wife, Earline, at the time of the Sept. 2, 2007, killing, told a St. Mary Parish jury he did not know Horton, 22 at that time, was carrying a knife, owned by Wright, when they went to the mobile home at 537 Little Pine Lane to rob the victim.
During Wright’s trial, Vincent Borne, then assistant district attorney and now a 16th Judicial District judge, said Wright should be found guilty although it was “Chris Horton’s actions that killed Adam Horton ... Chris actually stabbed his brother.”
Horton, charged with first-degree murder, fixed his gaze on Wright as he testified shackled, in a Louisiana State Penitentiary uniform with a pair of prison guards seated by him. A St. Mary Parish sheriff deputy stood at the end of the defense table between Horton and Wright. Except for a couple of furtive glances, Wright did not look at Horton, married to his half-sister, during his two hours of testimony.
Horton’s attorney, Robert Fuhrer, asked Wright his height and build as compared to that of the victim and Horton, he and the victim’s position when the fatal stabbing occurred, and in what direction the stabbing occurred.
Wright said the three were about the same size and he was holding the victim, who was standing upright, to keep him from fleeing, when Horton swung the knife past his nose and struck the victim in the chest.
Fuhrer had asked St. Mary Sheriff Maj. Gary Driskell, then a detective, if an effort had been made to determine the angle at which the fatal knife wound had been made or if it was made by a left-handed or right-handed person. Driskell said that determination had not been made.
Fuhrer did not challenge any of the prosecution’s morning evidence, but did question the thoroughness of the investigation and procedures.
Fuhrer questioned why a video taken of the cluttered home of the victim, including the room where the bloody body lie, was filmed without detectives wearing “booties” over their shoes to prevent contamination of the evidence.
Driskell said it was not standard procedure to wear booties. He questioned why there was no dusting of fingerprints on items that appeared to have been removed from the victim’s wallet.
Fuhrer asked why detectives could not answer if ammunition was in a revolver they photographed in Horton’s bedroom. He began to ask what the detectives were investigating when he was stopped by an objection from prosecutor Anthony Saleme for being argumentative.
Saleme spent the morning establishing basic facts. He showed the jury photos of a burned-out vehicle at Wilson’s Landing near Patterson, which deputy Beau Martin eventually determined belonged to Adam Horton. Wright later testified he and Christopher Horton brought the vehicle there and torched it. It was his idea, he said, to burn the vehicle.
Saleme showed photos of Adam Horton face down in a pool of his own blood, bound with an electric cord cut from a hair dryer and hog-tied in his bedroom where he was killed.
There was blood splattered on a cabinet. Forms of identification and other items typically found in a wallet were strewn near his body. The front of his light gray shirt was crimson red and blood-soaked when his body was turned over by investigators and his face looked as if it had been painted in blood.
Saleme presented a seven-minute photo display on a projector screen and followed that with a 10-minute walk-thru video inside the disarrayed, untidy mobile home.
Horton did not see any of that. He had a different posture and demeanor during those 17 minutes. Clad in blue jeans and a burnt-orange shirt, he turned his back to the screen, not looking at the images. Mostly he looked down, occasionally he looked up, rubbing the brow above his eyes.
Saleme led sheriff investigators through a series of questions and photographs; pictures of wads of money said to be stolen from the victim, a recovered laptop computer and surveillance camera that Wright later identified as being taken from the victim’s home and automobile and then discarded.
Saleme produced a knife Lt. Daniel Weidenboerner said he recovered from the bayou at Wilson’s Landing. Wright identified that knife as belonging to him and said it had been used by Horton to stab the victim.
Until Wright took the stand, no one was sure he would testify. His attorney, Craig Colwart, said Wright had a brief emotional meeting and conversation with his half-sister, Earline Horton, when he got to the courthouse. Colwart said after that meeting, Wright, who is trying to get a new trial, decided he would definitely testify against Horton.
District Judge Paul deMay advised Wright that he did not have to testify and anything he said could be used if he were to win the right to a new trial. Wright looked up a few moments, closed his eyes, and then stated with finality that he wanted to testify.
Upon questioning from Saleme at the end of his testimony, Wright said he had been offered nothing in exchange for his testimony.
Fuhrer asked Wright if he had testified in his own trial and Wright said he had not. Fuhrer asked why not and Wright said his mother told him it might not be in his best interest.
Earline Horton is expected to testify for the prosecution. She pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to five years in prison but has completed her sentence.