07-22-2008, 03:35 AM
WEST PALM BEACH — After finding his mother stabbed to death and his young son injured, John Tackaberry called his former girlfriend, Rhonda Norman, even though it was around 3:30 a.m.
"She's the only person I thought could do something like that," Tackaberry testified Monday in the first-degree murder trial of Norman, 36. She is charged with murdering his mother, Jane Tackaberry, and attempting to kill his son, Elijah, now 8, in their West Palm Beach home in August 2006. The state is seeking the death penalty for Norman.
Photo gallery: See more trial photos
CBS 12 video report
More crime coverage
Photos of recent bookings at PBC jail
Most recent headlines
Fugitives | Sex offenders
Post crime blog
Post your comments on this story below
More local news
Latest breaking news, photos and all of today's Post stories.
Share This Story
A short time later, Norman wept loudly and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as the jury was shown crime-scene photos, including those of a bloodied Jane Tackaberry. Her crying became more audible when photos of a hospitalized Elijah - whose vocal cords were cut - were shown on a large screen.
Defense attorney Gregg Lerman said in his opening statement that Norman had a role in the incident, but that co-defendant Wes McGee was the primary perpetrator. McGee will be tried later.
John Tackaberry and his son were living with his mother when the early morning attack occurred in Jane Tackaberry's home. Prosecutor Craig Williams said that Norman recruited McGee - whom she had just met - to carry out the attacks because she was jealous that Tackaberry was seeing another woman.
Lerman said Norman had no violent intentions when she took McGee with her to Jane Tackaberry's house to return her house key. "She may be responsible to some extent for putting the wheels in motion," he conceded.
But, Lerman maintained, McGee, "on his own comes in and attacks Miss Tackaberry. He stabs Jane Tackaberry. He is the individual that had everything to do directly with the murder," the defense attorney said.
Lerman said that at the end of the trial he will ask the jury to convict his client of manslaughter and aggravated battery, rather than first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Norman also is charged with burglary and armed robbery.
John Tackaberry, 32, said he arrived home around 3 a.m. after going to a movie and then to Lake Worth beach. When he walked into the kitchen he noticed a butcher block on its side and knives from it on a counter. In the dining room, he said he saw the contents of his mother's purse strewn on the floor.
"I saw a big puddle of blood next to her purse, and a big butcher knife," he said. And then he saw his mother's body, called 911 and checked on his son in the boy's bedroom. He said he didn't realize at the time how serious Elijah's injuries were. He cried when photos of his son at the hospital were shown.
Outside the courtroom, Tackaberry was unmoved by his former girlfriend's show of emotion.
"She's sorry for what's going to happen to her," he said. "She's sorry that she got caught."
Jane Tackaberry's daughter, Stephanie Rinzel, said that seeing the crime-scene photos of her mother and the hospital photos of Elijah was difficult.
"I wasn't expecting it to be so bad," she said.
The photos brought back terrible memories for John Tackaberry. "I just remember screaming. I remember touching her. She was cold," he said of his mother.
He said Elijah speaks with a slight rasp and has enormous surgical scars but is doing very well.
"He doesn't really remember," Rinzel said. "He just misses my mom. My mom was such a great person."
Jurors also listened to a lengthy tape-recorded statement that Norman gave to police. She told them that after a chance encounter with McGee at a gas station, she promised him he could have all the money he found in the house. "I dumped out her purse and wallet and gave him all of it," she said.
But Norman said it was McGee who stabbed and killed Tackaberry and sliced Elijah's throat. She admitted she stabbed her ex-boyfriend's son in the chest.
When asked if she instructed McGee to kill Jane Tackaberry and Elijah, Norman replied, "Uh, yeah."
"You would have killed John?" Detective Jose Matias Jr. asked.
"I woulda did it personally."
"She's the only person I thought could do something like that," Tackaberry testified Monday in the first-degree murder trial of Norman, 36. She is charged with murdering his mother, Jane Tackaberry, and attempting to kill his son, Elijah, now 8, in their West Palm Beach home in August 2006. The state is seeking the death penalty for Norman.
Photo gallery: See more trial photos
CBS 12 video report
More crime coverage
Photos of recent bookings at PBC jail
Most recent headlines
Fugitives | Sex offenders
Post crime blog
Post your comments on this story below
More local news
Latest breaking news, photos and all of today's Post stories.
Share This Story
A short time later, Norman wept loudly and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as the jury was shown crime-scene photos, including those of a bloodied Jane Tackaberry. Her crying became more audible when photos of a hospitalized Elijah - whose vocal cords were cut - were shown on a large screen.
Defense attorney Gregg Lerman said in his opening statement that Norman had a role in the incident, but that co-defendant Wes McGee was the primary perpetrator. McGee will be tried later.
John Tackaberry and his son were living with his mother when the early morning attack occurred in Jane Tackaberry's home. Prosecutor Craig Williams said that Norman recruited McGee - whom she had just met - to carry out the attacks because she was jealous that Tackaberry was seeing another woman.
Lerman said Norman had no violent intentions when she took McGee with her to Jane Tackaberry's house to return her house key. "She may be responsible to some extent for putting the wheels in motion," he conceded.
But, Lerman maintained, McGee, "on his own comes in and attacks Miss Tackaberry. He stabs Jane Tackaberry. He is the individual that had everything to do directly with the murder," the defense attorney said.
Lerman said that at the end of the trial he will ask the jury to convict his client of manslaughter and aggravated battery, rather than first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Norman also is charged with burglary and armed robbery.
John Tackaberry, 32, said he arrived home around 3 a.m. after going to a movie and then to Lake Worth beach. When he walked into the kitchen he noticed a butcher block on its side and knives from it on a counter. In the dining room, he said he saw the contents of his mother's purse strewn on the floor.
"I saw a big puddle of blood next to her purse, and a big butcher knife," he said. And then he saw his mother's body, called 911 and checked on his son in the boy's bedroom. He said he didn't realize at the time how serious Elijah's injuries were. He cried when photos of his son at the hospital were shown.
Outside the courtroom, Tackaberry was unmoved by his former girlfriend's show of emotion.
"She's sorry for what's going to happen to her," he said. "She's sorry that she got caught."
Jane Tackaberry's daughter, Stephanie Rinzel, said that seeing the crime-scene photos of her mother and the hospital photos of Elijah was difficult.
"I wasn't expecting it to be so bad," she said.
The photos brought back terrible memories for John Tackaberry. "I just remember screaming. I remember touching her. She was cold," he said of his mother.
He said Elijah speaks with a slight rasp and has enormous surgical scars but is doing very well.
"He doesn't really remember," Rinzel said. "He just misses my mom. My mom was such a great person."
Jurors also listened to a lengthy tape-recorded statement that Norman gave to police. She told them that after a chance encounter with McGee at a gas station, she promised him he could have all the money he found in the house. "I dumped out her purse and wallet and gave him all of it," she said.
But Norman said it was McGee who stabbed and killed Tackaberry and sliced Elijah's throat. She admitted she stabbed her ex-boyfriend's son in the chest.
When asked if she instructed McGee to kill Jane Tackaberry and Elijah, Norman replied, "Uh, yeah."
"You would have killed John?" Detective Jose Matias Jr. asked.
"I woulda did it personally."