Tennessee: Boy: Dad bought saw day mom was killed

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A 14-year-old boy testifying at his father's murder trial said Monday that he went with his dad to buy a circular saw the day prosecutors argue the man killed and dismembered the teen's mother. James Hawkins, 33, could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing and strangling of Charlene Gaither in February 2008. Hawkins, a career criminal, and the 28-year-old Gaither had been longtime companions and had a daughter and two sons together. Prosecutors say Hawkins killed Gaither after she confronted him about having incestuous sex with their daughter, who was 12 years old at the time. Hawkins, who told his sons that their mother left in the middle of the night, forced the girl to help him take apart and get rid of her mother's body, prosecutors said. The boy testified that he once saw Hawkins lying on top of his sister on a bed, and that he and his brother helped their dad throw away their mother's mattress the day she was killed. The defense blames the girl for the killing and dismemberment. They said she did it because she and her mother were having problems. In court documents, Hawkins has admitted cutting up Gaither's body, and has pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse, but says he did not kill her. A highway crew in Mississippi's DeSoto County found Gaither's headless body, which also was missing hands and feet, on the banks of the Coldwater River on Valentine's Day 2008. Hawkins also has pleaded guilty to filing a false missing persons report. He has 18 criminal convictions since 1999 for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault and was paroled in 2007 after serving part of a 15-year sentence. The Associated Press, which does not generally identify possible victims of sex crimes, is not naming the girl or her brother in an effort to shield the girl's identity. Prosecutor Jennifer Nichols asked the boy, who was 11 when his mother was slain, about a day when he was playing video games with his brother in their apartment. The boy said he went looking for batteries for the game controller when he saw his father and sister in a bedroom. "Out of the corner of my eye I could see him on top of my sister," the boy said, glancing at Hawkins. The boy later testified that his sister came into the room he and their younger brother shared on Feb. 9, 2008, the day prosecutors say Gaither was killed. The girl turned the television volume to its loudest setting, then ordered her two brothers to stay in the room until she returned, the boy said. After she let them out, they all went to Kmart to buy the saw. The jury saw video surveillance footage of the boy carrying the saw out of the store. Then they went back to the same store and returned the cleaned saw hours later. Once they had the saw, they went back to the apartment, the boy said. Hawkins told the boys to stay in the car, where they remained for three hours until they were ordered to help their father clean the apartment, the boy said. Prosecutors have argued that while the boys were in the car, Hawkins forced his daughter to help move her mother's body from a freezer to a bathtub, where she was dismembered. The boy said Hawkins told him to clean the bedroom, but stay out of the bathroom. The brothers and their father then threw Gaither's mattress in a Dumpster, the boy said. On cross examination, defense attorney Gerald Skahan asked the boy whether he could see in the surveillance video that his sister and father were walking arm-in-arm into the Kmart. Skahan also asked about the time when the girl turned up the TV volume and ordered the boys to stay in the room. "Your dad didn't do that. Your sister did it?" the defense attorney asked. "Yes, sir," the boy said. Also Monday, a former homicide detective who is now the Memphis police chief testified he smelled a strong odor of bleach coming out of Hawkins' apartment when he was arrested. Toney Armstrong also said that a piece of carpet had been cut from the floor of the master bedroom, which could indicate the cleanup of a crime scene. Police have said they found blood in the bedroom and bathroom of the apartment. Published: Wed, Jun 8, 2011