Latest / Least of These / 233. “Murder on the Mahned” - The Case of William Hatcher, Robbie Bond, & Michael Lee - Petal, Mississippi - [Part 3 - FINAL]

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233. “Murder on the Mahned” - The Case of William Hatcher, Robbie Bond, & Michael Lee - Petal, Mississippi - [Part 3 - FINAL] · Least of These

0:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to least of these where I cover the cases that need it most because every life matters and everyone deserves justice.
0:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Leah D and today I'll be bringing you the conclusion of the case of William Hatcher, Robbie Bond, and Michael Lee in Petal, Mississippi.
0:17
[SPEAKER_00]: If you haven't heard part 1 skip back in episode or maybe 2 and then meet us right back here.
0:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, just a warning.
0:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Today's case is extremely graphic in nature and involves details of a sexual assault.
0:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Listener discretion is definitely advised.
0:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And with that said, let's get right to it.
1:14
[SPEAKER_00]: When we left off last week, 20-year-old Kenneth Moody and his 14-year-old cousin David Moody had been charged with capital murder in the deaths of 21-year-old Robbie Bond and 27-year-old William Hatcher.
1:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth and his other cousin Richard Moody had been charged with murder in Michael Lee's death.
1:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And Richard's mother, Viggy Moody, was charged with aggravated assault in the
1:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth David and Richard.
1:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Charges against Vicky were dropped due to lack of evidence.
1:48
[SPEAKER_00]: However, Kenneth Richard and David Moody were all behind bars awaiting trial.
1:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Fast forward to July of 1995, approximately two months after Robbie Bond and William Hatcher had been murdered.
2:02
[SPEAKER_00]: The Hattiesburg American reported that District Attorney Glenn White and Defense Attorney Bob Helfrick reached an agreement.
2:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth Modi would plead guilty to capital murder, which in the state of Mississippi was eligible for the death penalty.
2:16
[SPEAKER_00]: And if he pled guilty and told prosecutors the truth about what had happened that day, testified against his cousins, and also revealed any information he might have had about the disappearance
2:30
[SPEAKER_00]: The death penalty would be taken off the table, and he'd be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
2:37
[SPEAKER_00]: An interview was arranged with Kenneth Modi, investigators, and the district attorney's office.
2:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember how David Moody claimed he'd basically played no role in the murders.
2:48
[SPEAKER_00]: He said that he was just a long for the ride out of fear of his cousin with kill him.
2:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's far from the story Kenneth Moody told.
2:56
[SPEAKER_00]: In that interview, Kenneth told officials that he and David had been drinking miller beer all afternoon, and had smoked dope and taken volume before they encountered Robbie Bond and William Hatcher on the Monnet Bridge.
3:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth claimed it was actually 14-year-old David, who, quote, started talking about raping that girl.
3:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth continued, David started talking about raping that girl, and I just kind of laughed at him and said, you don't believe I do it, do you?
3:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, yeah.
3:27
[SPEAKER_00]: At that point, he turned his 1980 dots and pickup truck around.
3:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth said that when he got close to the couple he jumped out of the truck and stabbed William Hatcher.
3:37
[SPEAKER_00]: At that point, Robbie Bond tried to run away, but 14-year-old David caught her.
3:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Robbie immediately began to fight back.
3:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth stated, I turned around and she was whipping David's butt just about, and I hit her and David held her there and I went and got the truck.
3:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth said he kicked William and Robbie about three or four times in the head, each.
4:01
[SPEAKER_00]: He then threw them in the truck and took them to the trailer he shared with his father.
4:05
[SPEAKER_00]: When they got to the trailer, the two realized that William Hatcher was already dead.
4:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Robbie Bond was severely injured, but still alive.
4:14
[SPEAKER_00]: She pleaded with them not to kill her.
4:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth went on to say that they had both assaulted Robbie, stating,
4:24
[SPEAKER_00]: They then drove back to the bridge to get Kenneth's hat, Robbie sandals, and other evidence they left behind.
4:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And when they got back, they raped Robbie again.
4:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Then they tried to kill her with the water hose, and when that didn't work, Kenneth stated, I had this big hammer in the woods.
4:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I gave it to Davy.
4:42
[SPEAKER_00]: He swung it and hit her.
4:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I swung it and hit her.
4:47
[SPEAKER_00]: At that point, Kenneth did acknowledge threatening his younger cousin to keep him quiet.
4:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, I told him if he ever did tell anybody and I found out about it, he'd be in one of them holes too.
4:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth made it sound as if David had been a willing participant all along and was threatened only after Robbie and William had been killed.
5:08
[SPEAKER_00]: He also told investigators in this interview that David Moody had told him that he had
5:14
[SPEAKER_00]: He claimed that 14-year-old David had told him that he had killed a black man in Mobile, Alabama.
5:20
[SPEAKER_00]: But it seems none of the investigators really pressed him for the details.
5:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I, for one, would sure like to know exactly what David Modi said to Kenneth.
5:30
[SPEAKER_00]: But apparently investigators weren't all that interested.
5:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It seemed like part of the reason prosecutors had offered a deal is because they thought Kenneth may have had information in Angela Freeman's case.
5:43
[SPEAKER_00]: But Kenneth claimed he knew nothing.
5:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The Mississippi Free Press reported that when asked if he knew anything about Angela, Kenneth said, if I did, man, I'd tell you.
5:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even believe that girl's dead.
5:56
[SPEAKER_00]: This ain't something I do all the time.
5:59
[SPEAKER_00]: The prosecutor and Kenna's case at that time, Ray Price, told the outlet that no new leads were provided by Kenna's moody and regard to Angela Freeman.
6:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And like we talked about in the episode on Angela's case.
6:13
[SPEAKER_00]: One of Kenna's defense attorneys, Michael Adelman, told the Hattiesburg American thick Kenneth had taken a light detector test about Angela's disappearance.
6:28
[SPEAKER_00]: With that, Kenneth Moody had seemingly held up his end of the deal.
6:32
[SPEAKER_00]: He had told investigators and the district attorney's office what he claimed was a truth about what happened that night.
6:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So it looked like he was getting his little plea deal.
6:41
[SPEAKER_00]: That was until Circuit Court Judge Dickie McKenzie shut it all down and refused to accept the deal.
6:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Moody's defense team appealed Judge McKenzie's refusal, and ultimately the state withdrew the offer, claiming that Kenneth Moody had renamed on the agreement.
6:58
[SPEAKER_00]: How had he done that?
7:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, prosecutors claimed he made contact with his cousins behind bars, and in that correspondence, Kenneth denied some of the statements he made as part of the plea bargain.
7:10
[SPEAKER_00]: The appeal was taken all the way to the Mississippi Supreme Court, and that put a hold on all of the cases.
7:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth obviously couldn't be tried until the Supreme Court reached a decision, but neither could David or Richard Modi since Kenneth's testimony was crucial to both cases.
7:28
[SPEAKER_00]: To make matters worse, several prosecutors were dismissed from trying the case, because they believed they needed to honor the original plea agreement made.
7:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Changes were made in both who would prosecute the case, and who would represent Kennethus his defense team.
7:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Special prosecutors were assigned in reassign, and the same went for the defense.
7:49
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a hot mess, which caused so many delays.
8:16
[SPEAKER_00]: By the fall of 1997, Circuit Court Judge Dickie McKenzie was looking for the fifth special prosecutor.
8:23
[SPEAKER_00]: After Lamar County District Attorney Richard Douglas made it clear that he believed the state had to honor the plea agreement.
8:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He spoke to the Claire in Ledger and said that he wanted nothing to do with the case, stating,
8:41
[SPEAKER_00]: You can say whatever you want, but just make sure you say I don't have a damn thing to do with this case from this point on.
8:49
[SPEAKER_00]: A whole another year passed before the Supreme Court made their ruling.
8:54
[SPEAKER_00]: It was June of 1998 when the court decided that the plea bargain should be upheld.
9:00
[SPEAKER_00]: After the Supreme Court ruled the plea bargain would be upheld, Kenneth Moody changed his mind.
9:05
[SPEAKER_00]: He withdrew the agreement and entered a plea of not guilty.
9:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Five special prosecutors and years of delays all for nothing.
9:15
[SPEAKER_00]: But the door for the trials to begin and other plea deals to be made was finally open.
9:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Richard Moody was first a strike a deal.
9:24
[SPEAKER_00]: In September of 1998, he pled guilty to manslaughter and accessory after the fact for the murder of Michael Lee, and he agreed to testify against his cousin Kenneth.
9:36
[SPEAKER_00]: He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but final sentencing was held off until Richard
9:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth Modi was supposed to be up next to face justice, but that didn't happen.
9:51
[SPEAKER_00]: In February of 1999, his case was moved out of Perry County because of all the pretrial publicity.
9:58
[SPEAKER_00]: It was said to be tried in nearby Forest County in August of 1999, but delayed again, pending Kenneth undergo a court-ordered psychiatric exam.
10:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth's trial was delayed, so prosecutors turned their attention to David Modi.
10:14
[SPEAKER_00]: David was also offered a plea deal, a deal that would have landed him in prison for six to eight years and exchanged for his testimony against his cousin Kenneth.
10:24
[SPEAKER_00]: But 14-year-old David decided to take his case to a jury.
10:28
[SPEAKER_00]: The trial began on February 14th, 2000.
10:32
[SPEAKER_00]: As we know, David
10:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Those confessions had been captured on video.
10:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Prosecutors played the video tape statements for the jury, specifically the one in which David Modi said he raped Robbie Bonne.
10:49
[SPEAKER_00]: The jury heard David describe in his own words in full detail how he and Kenneth had brutally murdered William Hatcher and Robbie Bonne.
10:58
[SPEAKER_00]: As far as the defense went, David's defense was at the only reason he had gone along with the murders, was because his cousin Kenneth would kill him if he didn't.
11:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth was supposed to testify during the trial, but when Call to the stand, he invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination.
11:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Since he didn't testify, the state was unable to introduce statements he made during police interviews.
11:21
[SPEAKER_00]: The jury did hear from Darrell Madden, a Perry County jail trustee who had found and read a letter written to David Moody to another one of his cousins who was also in jail, Michael Robinson.
11:33
[SPEAKER_00]: In the letter, David told Michael to tell prosecutors that he had only pretended to rape Robbie Bond.
11:41
[SPEAKER_00]: That was damning, of course, but when it came to physical evidence that David had sexually assaulted Robbie, a DNA expert was called to the stand.
11:51
[SPEAKER_00]: That expert testified that during autopsy, DNA had been recovered from Robbie's body and the form of seminal fluid.
11:58
[SPEAKER_00]: and that DNA belonged to only Kenneth Moody.
12:01
[SPEAKER_00]: David's DNA had not been found.
12:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, the defense claimed this prove that David had not taken part in a sexual assault on Robbie Bonne, but I mean, he quite literally said that he did.
12:15
[SPEAKER_00]: The defense called the witnesses and David himself did not take the stand.
12:21
[SPEAKER_00]: On February 23, 2000, David Modi was found guilty of capital murder, murder during the commission of felony rape and the death of Robbie Bond, and accessory after the fact of capital murder in William Hatcher's death.
12:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Because of his age at the time the crime was committed, he couldn't be sentenced to death.
12:40
[SPEAKER_00]: He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole, plus five years.
12:46
[SPEAKER_00]: David's family was shocked, his mother Carol Robinson ran from the courtroom crying.
12:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Carol wasn't the only one in shock.
12:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Bobby Lee, sister of victim Michael Lee, told the Hattiesburg American that she believed David deserved leniency.
13:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Stating, if it wasn't for David, I don't think we'd know what happened to any of them, and the murders would have continued.
13:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he should get some help for what he had to go through.
13:11
[SPEAKER_00]: I believe David, when he says Kenneth would kill him, Kenneth has always been a creepy person.
13:18
[SPEAKER_00]: 14-year-old David Moody's family might have been shocked, but the families of William Hatcher and Robbie Bond felt that justice had been served, at least when it came to David.
13:50
[SPEAKER_00]: After 14-year-old David Moody had been sentenced to life with no possibility of parole, the monod bridge was back in the news again.
13:57
[SPEAKER_00]: An August of 2000, a fire broke out on the bridge, by the time firefighters got to the scene, close to 80 feet of the wooden deck had burned through.
14:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the time they got the fire out, close to 110 feet were completely gone.
14:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Photos of the charred bridge blashed across the headlines, and the people of Perry, Mississippi were reminded of the horrors that had taken place there.
14:21
[SPEAKER_00]: It had been five years since William and Robbie had been murdered, and their families were still waiting for justice.
14:30
[SPEAKER_00]: The trial for Kenneth Moody was moved again, this time to Biluxi, Mississippi, which is in Harrison County.
14:36
[SPEAKER_00]: After numerous delays, Kenneth would finally face justice in the spring of 2001.
14:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Just before Kenneth's trial began, his father, W.C. Moody, died on March 7, 2001 of heart failure.
14:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He was only 54 years old,
14:56
[SPEAKER_00]: The horrific nature of the crimes had impacted not only the victim's family, but also all be it in a different way, the Moody family.
15:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Granny Crow and WC both died before the cases were adjudicated, and the Moody family name was Albert Ruin.
15:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you didn't walk around Mississippi with the last name of Moody without people looking at you sideways.
15:20
[SPEAKER_00]: 19 days after WC died his son's trial began.
15:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Like everything else pertaining to Kenneth, it wasn't without drama.
15:28
[SPEAKER_00]: The defense made about 33 motions for a mistrial, starting in jury selection.
15:34
[SPEAKER_00]: All of the motions were denied.
15:37
[SPEAKER_00]: The trial ended up lasting 14 days.
15:41
[SPEAKER_00]: David Moody did not testify in neither the Kenneth.
15:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But the jury would hear Kenneth's videotape confessions.
15:50
[SPEAKER_00]: As the prosecution presented its case, the defense suggested that all of the Moody cousins had access to Kenneth's 1980 blue dots in truck.
15:59
[SPEAKER_00]: The same truck investigators and experts testified that blood from the victims have been
16:05
[SPEAKER_00]: one of those cousins, of course, being Richard Moody, Kenneth's co-conspirator and the murder of Michael Lee.
16:12
[SPEAKER_00]: But that was odd, considering the fact that in one of his interviews, Kenneth had not only straight-up confessed to the murders himself, but said his cousin Richard Richie Moody had nothing to do with it, at least as far as the murders of Robbie and William.
16:28
[SPEAKER_00]: the Hattiesburg-American published an excerpt of the interrogation which was played in its entirety for the jury.
16:34
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigator stated, that's involving the death of two people down on Monid Bridge.
16:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you tell us about it?
16:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth responded, what do y'all want me to say?
16:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigator, how you did it and what you did?
16:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth said, I didn't.
16:52
[SPEAKER_00]: the investigator asked, you didn't have anything to do with killing those two people.
16:57
[SPEAKER_00]: No sir, he said.
16:59
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigator continued, we know a whole lot about it.
17:03
[SPEAKER_00]: We know everything about it.
17:04
[SPEAKER_00]: We just got you up here because we know you did it and we need you to give us your side of the story there.
17:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth stated, I'll talk man, but y'all got my cousin up there and he didn't
17:20
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigator asks, who is that?
17:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Caneth responded, Richie, he ain't got nothing to do with none of it.
17:27
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigator continues, will you need to tell us about it?
17:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And then if he ain't got nothing to do with it, we'll let him lose if he's really not involved.
17:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth said, something I don't want to talk about really.
17:39
[SPEAKER_00]: I was drunk.
17:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm just going to tell y'all.
17:42
[SPEAKER_00]: This is hard for me.
17:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I just wish somebody would kill me and get it over with.
17:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I killed both of them.
17:48
[SPEAKER_00]: I admit that.
17:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Turn the tape recorder off now, I guess.
17:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Do what the investigator asks?
17:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth responded.
17:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I killed both of them.
17:59
[SPEAKER_00]: He then went on to describe in detail how he stabbed and beat William Hatcher on the bridge and had David Moody hold down Robbie Bon why he finished.
18:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Can it's hold investigators that the knife he used was a wooden handled butcher knife that wasn't his, but wasn't his truck.
18:15
[SPEAKER_00]: He said he put both victims in his truck and took them to his house.
18:19
[SPEAKER_00]: The broken knife found at the scene matched the knife Kenneth described.
18:27
[SPEAKER_00]: But likely their proverbial nail in Kenneth's coffin was that his DNA had been found on Robby Bond's body.
18:34
[SPEAKER_00]: The jury deliberated for almost ten hours and found Kenneth guilty of two counts of capital murder and sexual battery on April 10, 2001.
18:45
[SPEAKER_00]: After the verdict, the victim's family's release to joint statement.
18:49
[SPEAKER_00]: It read.
18:50
[SPEAKER_00]: We find relief in knowing that this part of the case is complete.
18:54
[SPEAKER_00]: The four and a half years since William and Robby's deaths have allowed us to attend this trial with clear minds and to better understand the events of each day.
19:02
[SPEAKER_00]: The verdict is a welcome relief of nearly five years of worry and doubt.
19:07
[SPEAKER_00]: We can begin to put the events of May 1995 behind us and move forward.
19:12
[SPEAKER_00]: We would like to thank family and friends for the support and prayers that they have given us during the trial, and since May 1995.
19:19
[SPEAKER_00]: The families were back in the courtroom a few days later at Kenneth Modi's sentencing.
19:25
[SPEAKER_00]: He was facing the death penalty.
19:28
[SPEAKER_00]: The Hattiesburg American and the Clarion Ledger reported on the proceedings.
19:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth's mother pleaded for her son's life to be spared.
19:36
[SPEAKER_00]: She told the courtroom that Kenneth's life had been marked with abuse, alcoholism, and addiction from an early age, revealing that his father, W.C. Moody, had been extremely abusive.
19:48
[SPEAKER_00]: She claimed he had beaten her when she was pregnant with Kenneth, and when Kenneth was young, he had witnessed his father holding her at gunpoint for several hours.
19:57
[SPEAKER_00]: She went on to say that Kenneth witnessed his father's relatives regularly engaged in sexual activity, even as a very young child.
20:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the age of eight, her son was inhaling gasoline fumes on the regular.
20:11
[SPEAKER_00]: By 12, he was abusing alcohol, and not long after that, he was using drugs intravenously.
20:19
[SPEAKER_00]: She divorced W.C. in for a brief time she had custody of Kenneth.
20:24
[SPEAKER_00]: She claimed she sought treatment for him but grew frustrated and Kenneth became a ward of the state from the age 12 to 16.
20:31
[SPEAKER_00]: He was in and out of discipline in drug abuse treatment centers and ultimately ended up back at W.C.s with the moody's.
20:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Forensic psychologist Dr. Chris Lot also testified and told the jury that due to his upbringing and his addiction to inhaling gasoline, he had developed a pathological disorder.
20:51
[SPEAKER_00]: About Huffing Gasoline Dr.
20:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Lot said, he did it chronically almost daily close to 12 years, and that can cause people to be explosive and volatile.
21:02
[SPEAKER_00]: You think?
21:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth Moody's life had been far from my deal, and that was true for most if not all of the Moody cousins.
21:11
[SPEAKER_00]: But for the family members of the victims, it was no excuse.
21:16
[SPEAKER_00]: They also testified, putting the focus back on the victims.
21:20
[SPEAKER_00]: It was revealed that William Hatcher had a three-month-old son when he was killed.
21:25
[SPEAKER_00]: A son that would never get to know his father.
21:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Robbie Bonds on gold-climping Gundy, along with many of William and Robbie's family members, believe that Kenneth Moody should be sentenced to death.
21:38
[SPEAKER_00]: He stayed at, I don't have any sympathy for him, when she was being raped and tortured and before she had her face caped in with a sledge hammer, she knew she was going to die.
21:48
[SPEAKER_00]: She saw death coming.
21:50
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be appropriate if Kenneth Moody had
21:57
[SPEAKER_00]: But Kenneth Modi wouldn't be given an expiration date, instead he was sentenced to two life sentences without the chance of parole.
22:06
[SPEAKER_00]: After sentencing, the family of Michael Lee was fearful that after being convicted in the cases of Robbie Bond and William Hatcher, prosecutors wouldn't take Michael's case to trial.
22:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Kenneth wasn't getting out of prison.
22:20
[SPEAKER_00]: That was clear, but they believed wholeheartedly that he still needed to be held accountable in Michael's murder, and he would be.
22:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Prosecutors announced that they were taking the case to trial.
22:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael's sister, Belinda Holt spoke to the Hattiesburg American and stated, this is what we wanted and afraid we were not going to get.
22:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael died first and we did not want him forgotten.
22:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I know Kenneth Moody has two life sentences.
22:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we believe he needs three.
22:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Spring turned a summer and summer into early fall.
22:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth's moody's trial was set to begin in September of 2001.
23:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Two days before Kenneth would be held accountable for Michael's death on September 15th.
23:06
[SPEAKER_00]: He and another inmate escape from the Perry County jail.
23:09
[SPEAKER_00]: The Times reported that Kenneth and Christopher Thomas, who was awaiting trial for capital murder and grand larceny charges after he shot his uncle in June of 2000, while those two escaped through an air ventilation system.
23:23
[SPEAKER_00]: The sheriff told the outlet that event in their cell had been cut, the steel bars bent, and the inmates had climbed into the vent, crawled out to the roof and jumped into an waiting vehicle.
23:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth had taken all of his belongings, but Thomas left behind a note in his cell, leaving all his possessions to his mother.
23:42
[SPEAKER_00]: After his escape, Kenneth stole a bicycle, went fishing, and hotwired an SUV before being caught three days later in the community of North Augusta.
23:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Christopher Thomas was also later captured.
23:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth was moved from the county jail to the
24:04
[SPEAKER_00]: After his capture, the murder trial began days later.
24:08
[SPEAKER_00]: As promised, Richard Moody took the stand and told the jury that Michael was at a party at their aunt Mary Moody's house in May of 1995 when a fight broke out.
24:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael Lee was beaten and stabbed to death by Kenneth Moody.
24:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Mary Moody also testified and told the courtroom that Kenneth the call her on May 19, 1995, and confessed to killing Michael Lee.
24:33
[SPEAKER_00]: And with that, it only took the jury about two hours to find Kenneth Moody guilty of Michael Lee's murder.
24:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Richard Modi was officially sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter and five years on accessory per his plea agreement.
24:48
[SPEAKER_00]: As far as I can tell, according to DOC records, he has since been released.
24:54
[SPEAKER_00]: In November of 2001, Kenneth Modi was sentenced to 20 years for the murder of Michael Lee.
25:00
[SPEAKER_00]: So now he had two life sentences plus 20 years in prison.
25:05
[SPEAKER_00]: All three cousins had been convicted.
25:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth and David were set to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
25:33
[SPEAKER_00]: As the years passed, the case faded from the headlines, but in 2015, convicted rapist and murderer, David Moody, was back in the news again.
25:43
[SPEAKER_00]: After David filed for post-conviction relief under the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Miller vs. Alabama, which is a decision requiring that miners convicted of homicide who received lifetime incarceration without the possibility of parole.
25:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Regardless of their age and age-related characteristics and the nature of their crimes was a violation of the 8th Amendment, the 8th Amendment being the one against cruel and unusual punishment.
26:11
[SPEAKER_00]: At first the state agreed, filing a response that acknowledged David's age at the time the crimes were committed and the terms of his sentence.
26:19
[SPEAKER_00]: The state requested a resentencing for David and specifically recommended his sentence be amended to life with the possibility of parole.
26:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Over the next several years, the court granted motions for David to a point council and to obtain experts in psychology as well as a mitigation investigator and at the same time a new district attorney was appointed.
26:41
[SPEAKER_00]: By February of 2024,
26:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Unlike the district attorney before him, this DA asked that the court upholds David's original sentence and that he not be eligible for parole.
26:58
[SPEAKER_00]: A hearing was held February 12th through the 14th of 2024.
27:02
[SPEAKER_00]: The judge reviewed full trial transcripts, examined 81 exhibits including medical records, affidavits from Kenneth Moody, prison records, and the testimony of several witnesses.
27:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Like David's Aunt Gloria, who testified on David's behalf, telling the judge that David had a rough upbringing.
27:22
[SPEAKER_00]: She testified that David's father, David Earl Moody, was very abusive to her sister Carol.
27:28
[SPEAKER_00]: She went on to tell the judge that Carol had abused alcohol while she was pregnant with him, and continued to drink thereafter.
27:35
[SPEAKER_00]: She described David as happy and sweet, but also
27:41
[SPEAKER_00]: David's sister took the stand as well and confirmed that her father was an abusive drug addict and that after their parents divorced, their mother Carol began seeing a bunch of different men, most of whom were quote drunks or abusers, and throughout her life, David was her only protector and safe point.
27:59
[SPEAKER_00]: She went on to say that David received money from the state after being diagnosed with schizophrenia, and that ultimately their mother had lost custody of her kids after one of her many boyfriends had molested her.
28:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And when it came to Kenneth, David's sister said that she was afraid of him, stating that he had, quote, scary sides to him and a serious habit of huffing gasoline.
28:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Many other family members told the judge the same thing.
28:26
[SPEAKER_00]: David's life was scarred by abuse in addiction at the hands of his parents.
28:31
[SPEAKER_00]: They also told the court that they had always known cousin Kenneth was a loose cannon, and a dangerous one at that, and that they believed but for Kenneth, David would have never committed these crimes.
28:43
[SPEAKER_00]: David's half-brother Michael Joe Robinson told the court that he had lived with Kenneth and W.C. for periods of time.
28:49
[SPEAKER_00]: He stated that everybody knew Kenneth was dangerous, going on to say, everybody was afraid of Kenneth, but they had no choice but to be around him because he was their only source of transportation.
29:01
[SPEAKER_00]: He continued telling the court that Kenneth often made
29:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael Joe went on to say that David had told him that Kenneth was the one who had committed both murders on the bridge and killed Michael Lee, and that when he told him this, he cried and appeared to be very scared.
29:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Former Forest County Sheriff Bill McGee, who was the first law enforcement officer David had confessed to, recalled the day David confessed to the murders.
29:32
[SPEAKER_00]: He told the courtroom that he believed both then and now sitting on the stand that David had nothing to do with the killing of anybody and had only complied because he was afraid of Kenneth.
29:44
[SPEAKER_00]: But that was only one side of the story.
29:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, David had a tough life and Kenneth was a monster, but there was a little more to it than that.
29:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Psychologist Dr. Beverly Smallwood told the court that David quote most certainly experienced trauma in his family and childhood growing up, and that this crime and the experiences around that were traumatic as well, and that he was very immature at the time the crimes were committed.
30:11
[SPEAKER_00]: She didn't believe he was at the same level of even an average 14-year-old.
30:16
[SPEAKER_00]: However, Dr. Small would went on to say that she had found evidence of malingering in David's file, meaning she had found that David intentionally faked, exaggerated, or created symptoms of illness for his benefit.
30:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And in prison, he had an exactly been a model inmate.
30:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Corrections officer superintendent Emmett Spartman noted that there was evidence that David had been involved in a gang, and that he felt David was one of those individuals that could get easily manipulated into joining a gang.
30:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Officer Spartman went on to say that David had a record of inappropriate sexual behavior, such as, quote, master baiting on his cell bars and threatening officers.
30:57
[SPEAKER_00]: On one occasion, David threatened to kill an officer, stating, bitch, if I had a knife, I'd chop your mother fucking head off.
31:06
[SPEAKER_00]: That wasn't an empty threat either.
31:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Over the years, David had been found in possession of cellphones and approximately 12 shanks.
31:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Forensic psychologist Dr. William Law also took the stand.
31:19
[SPEAKER_00]: He had completed an extensive evaluation on David Moody, reviewing discovery, mental health records, education or illegal records, corrections records, as well as clinical interviews.
31:30
[SPEAKER_00]: His opinion was too fold.
31:32
[SPEAKER_00]: He found that David was average to above average in his intellectual assessment, and that his chronological age at the time of the murders was a huge factor, testifying that adolescents are easily influenced and impulsive.
31:46
[SPEAKER_00]: and David, especially so, due to the circumstances of his family life and his diagnosis of ADHD.
31:53
[SPEAKER_00]: He went on to say that at the age of 14, David idolized Kenneth and geared his basic self-esteem toward gaining Kenneth's approval.
32:01
[SPEAKER_00]: So at the time the murders were committed, David was easily influenced by Kenneth.
32:06
[SPEAKER_00]: However, when he got to the topic of release and rehabilitation,
32:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Lott noted that David had the intellectual capacity to get up and function in any number of jobs and continue his education.
32:20
[SPEAKER_00]: He had served as a tutor in prison.
32:22
[SPEAKER_00]: On the other hand, the doctor found that David seemed very anxious and paranoid at times.
32:28
[SPEAKER_00]: He could be hostile and had difficulties with interpersonal relationships.
32:33
[SPEAKER_00]: He was also concerned with David's rule violations while incarcerated, and his long-standing history of substance abuse, even within the prison system.
32:43
[SPEAKER_00]: The doctor told the court that David was at high risk for a relapse of substance abuse, and that he would require a significant level of support if release.
32:53
[SPEAKER_00]: and then his cousin Kenneth Modi entered the picture again.
32:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth was said to take the stand and testify about an affidavit and a cell phone charger.
33:02
[SPEAKER_00]: But immediately after he was sworn in, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right and refused to testify.
33:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Since Kenneth would in talk, the judge allowed investigator Andy Davis with a Perry County District Attorney's Office to take the stand.
33:16
[SPEAKER_00]: You see, Kenneth had already given a statement to the DA's office.
33:20
[SPEAKER_00]: He would be asked the same questions Kenneth would have been asked and answered them based off Kenneth's previous statement.
33:26
[SPEAKER_00]: The investigator revealed that while Kenneth was in prison, he had a run-in with a couple of gangster disciples and was in fear for his life.
33:34
[SPEAKER_00]: At the same time, his contraband cell phone had died and he didn't have a charger.
33:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So he asked his cousin David to borrow his charger.
33:42
[SPEAKER_00]: According to what Kenneth told investigators, David allegedly told him he would quote
33:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth agreed in got the charger.
33:55
[SPEAKER_00]: He wrote the affidavit, but after meeting with the state, Kenneth took it all back and said that he had lied.
34:01
[SPEAKER_00]: He just wanted a charger.
34:03
[SPEAKER_00]: He went on to say that he had never threatened David during the commission of the crimes, but could quote, see where David might have felt threatened.
34:11
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Kenneth, the truth was that the crimes would not have occurred but for David.
34:16
[SPEAKER_00]: He said that David had made comments about quote doing some things, when they first saw Robbie and William on the bridge.
34:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth went on to say that while he was quote handling Hatcher, David chased Robbie down and held her on the bridge.
34:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And it went further than that.
34:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth claimed David was actually the one who hid hit robbing a head with a sledgehammer and that after the murders he had bragged to his brother Michael Joe the next day.
34:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And with that, the circuit court took time to review the motion.
34:48
[SPEAKER_00]: On March 1, 2024, David's post-conviction relief was denied.
34:53
[SPEAKER_00]: The circuit court wrote in part, this was not a spur of the moment of then, like the classic example of a shooting involved robbery that convenience store.
35:02
[SPEAKER_00]: This was a sustained series of heinous crimes over the course of several hours involving brutalization, rape, torture, and a murder of two people.
35:11
[SPEAKER_00]: David Moody actively participated in these crimes.
35:15
[SPEAKER_00]: and failed to report them during the hours when Robbie Bond could have been safe.
35:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, he waited four days after her death to contact law enforcement.
35:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Not wanting to give up so easily, David Moody appealed the decision and took it all the way to the Supreme Court, but the High Court affirmed the circuit court's ruling.
35:35
[SPEAKER_00]: David and Kenneth Moody will likely spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
35:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Their names will only be kept alive in the legal system through court records and prison rosters.
35:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Three lives were cut short that May of 1995.
35:49
[SPEAKER_00]: 31-year-old Michael Lee loved working on cars and listening to country music.
35:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of his favorite artists were Hank Williams Jr. and Merle Haggard.
35:59
[SPEAKER_00]: He liked that country music that though garages and backgrounds across the south, especially in 1995.
36:06
[SPEAKER_00]: 27-year-old William Hatcher loved reading, music, and going to concerts.
36:11
[SPEAKER_00]: In the year before his death, he had seen Melissa Ethridge, Theolman Brothers, and James Taylor perform live.
36:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Friends and family described him as generous and thoughtful.
36:21
[SPEAKER_00]: His brother Eric told the Hattiesburg American that in the last few weeks of his life, William was the happiest Eric had ever seen him.
36:29
[SPEAKER_00]: He was excited about getting back into school that summer and looking forward to what came next.
36:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Just before his death, William had called his mom to wish her a happy mother's day.
36:40
[SPEAKER_00]: She could hear the happiness in his voice.
36:42
[SPEAKER_00]: He told her he was glad he had made the move to Hattiesburg.
36:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Robbie Bond was bright, beautiful and kind.
36:50
[SPEAKER_00]: She was close to her grandmother and loved by everyone who came into contact with her.
36:54
[SPEAKER_00]: At just 21 years old, her life was only beginning.
36:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Three lives each filled with plans, passions, and people who love them.
37:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Cases like this often focus on the crimes and the lives of the people who committed them, but the most important thing to remember are the three lives that were stolen,
37:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And that my friends is all I've got for this week.
37:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to join me next Thursday for an all new episode.
37:23
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37:30
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37:34
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37:39
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37:46
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37:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening.
37:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for caring.
37:53
[SPEAKER_00]: If you know something, say something.
37:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, be good to each other.
38:41
[SPEAKER_00]: 14 years old is young.
38:43
[SPEAKER_00]: There is absolutely no doubt about that, but it's definitely old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.
38:50
[SPEAKER_00]: All of the moody cousins had it pretty rough growing up.
38:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's pretty evident, and that's sad, but that's absolutely no excuse.
38:58
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people grow up in abusive environments, but don't go on to raping kill people.
39:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And when it comes to Robbie Bond, she wasn't just raped and murdered, as if that isn't bad enough on its own.
39:11
[SPEAKER_00]: But she was tortured, the death she endured was horrific in brutal and all of this because they wanted to rape her.
39:18
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what it comes down to.
39:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Robbie and William didn't know these people.
39:22
[SPEAKER_00]: They weren't out there doing anything wrong or looking for trouble.
39:26
[SPEAKER_00]: They were looking at some stars on a bridge.
39:29
[SPEAKER_00]: they should still be here today, and the only reason they aren't is because those monsters also happen to be on that bridge.
39:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Was it Kenneth's idea or was it David's?
39:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Because they both got different stories there, but in the end it doesn't matter.
39:44
[SPEAKER_00]: They both took part in it by their own admissions.
39:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Do I think David was influenced by Kenneth?
39:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I do.
39:51
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I'm pretty sure of that.
39:54
[SPEAKER_00]: But he participated all the same.
39:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Did the Moody's Childhood effect them?
39:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure it did.
39:59
[SPEAKER_00]: But acknowledging that and using it to get leniency and sentencing or post-conviction relief are two separate things.
40:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Kenneth is a monster.
40:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I get it.
40:10
[SPEAKER_00]: But David ain't no better.
40:11
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think prison has changed him.
40:14
[SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to post-conviction relief for David, I'm far more concerned with what he's done since being in prison than what happened to him in childhood or how much he looked up to his dumb ass cousins.
40:26
[SPEAKER_00]: and what has he done since he's been in prison?
40:29
[SPEAKER_00]: He's tried to get his cousins to write affidavits exonerating him, threatened officers, showed strange sexual behaviors, oh, and he had an affinity for shanks.
40:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Reformed?
40:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, no, man.
40:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I've looked high in low and I don't see any reformation.
40:45
[SPEAKER_00]: He should stay behind bars because that's where he belongs.
40:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I sure wouldn't feel safe with him out living in my neighborhood or working at my local Wendy's.
40:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you?
40:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's easy to look back and hindsight and say, but he was only 14 years old.
41:01
[SPEAKER_00]: He was a child and he came forward and blah, blah, blah, blah.
41:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, he was 14 then, and he took part in brutal murders and rape.
41:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So he was a monster then, and now, now he's however the hell old he is and still behind bars doing drugs and cranking out shanks.
41:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Clearly, nothing has changed.
41:21
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still a danger to society.
41:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, keep his ass locked up, throw away the whole key for both of them.
41:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's about all I got to say about that.
41:30
[SPEAKER_00]: y'all know I love you more in my luggage and I can't wait to talk it to you next week but until then, bye-bye-bye-bye!