Murder defendant found guilty on lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter
Marsh House’s annual Heritage Days event Oct. 5. See story on page C1.
After 7½ hours of deliberation over a twoday span, a jury of six men and six women delivered their verdict in the Terry Wayne Saxton murder trial in Catoosa County Superior Court at approximately 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty on all five counts that Saxton killed his girlfriend, 55year-old Vicki LaCombe, last summer.
But the guilty verdicts were on lesser charges than initially anticipated.
Saxton’s five-count indictment included one count of malice murder, two counts of felony murder (one based on aggravated assault and one based on aggravated battery), one count of aggravated assault, and one count of aggravated battery.
The jury decided that Saxton, 52, was guilty across the board, but found him guilty of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter on each of the murder counts. The judge had earlier told jurors they could lessess the malice murder to voluntary manslaughter.
Although Saxton was still convicted on all counts, voluntary manslaughter garners a lighter sentence than murder.
After the verdict was read, judge Kristina Cook Graham dismissed the jury, and Saxton’s attorney Dan Ripper requested a pre-sentencing investigation.
Graham, who was in the middle of another case, told both Ripper and Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit district attorney Herbert E. “Buzz” Franklin that a sentencing hearing would have to take place at a later date, and that a pre-sentencing hearing would also take place.
“A probation officer will conduct an independent investigation, and