Testimony begins in Root Beer Stand shooting trial

On the night of July 31, a Williamsburg wrecker service owner Larry Wilson was at The Rootbeer Stand eating when he shot and killed the husband of a woman whom he had an affair with weeks earlier. The victim had gone over to Wilson’s tow truck for a confrontation prior to the shooting.

No one disputes these facts.

What a four-man, nine-woman jury has to decide later this week is whether Wilson shot Tod Carter in self-defense, or if he committed murder or some other lesser offense such as manslaughter or reckless homicide.

Testimony in Wilson’s murder and wanton endangerment trial began Tuesday afternoon with opening statements from both the prosecution and the defense.

The trial is expected to wrap up Thursday.

During opening statements, defense attorney Warren Scoville revealed for the first time publicly that toxicology tests would show that Wilson had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the shooting, but that Carter tested positive for marijuana, opiates, Hydrocodone and Oxycodone.

Prosecutors called a total of 15 witnesses Tuesday afternoon. Nine of them were people, who were at The Rootbeer Stand eating at the time of the shooting, and two were employees working when the shooting occurred.

Prior to the shooting

For the most part, the prosecution and the defense generally agree in terms of most of the facts in the case.

In June, Wilson, who frequently ate at the restaurant when he was in Corbin, began an affair with Carter’s wife, Christie, who was a waitress there. The two exchanged cell phone numbers and Christie Carter made the first call to Wilson, which lasted over 80 minutes, Scoville told jurors in his opening statement.

The two exchanged hundreds of text messages and dozens of phone calls over the coming weeks.

At one point, Christie moved in with Wilson for about two weeks before going back to her husband by early July.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble noted that the Carter’s marriage had been "up and down."

After they split up, Wilson continued to pursue Christie Carter, according to the prosecution’s account of the case.
The defense contends it was a friendly break-up and that Wilson sent her flowers afterwards.

A florist testified Tuesday that he delivered flowers to Christie Carter at the restaurant on June 29 that had a card attached, which read, "Thinking of you. Will love and remember you forever – Larry."

Tod Carter knew about the affair. He and Christie got back together for the sake of their 10-year-old daughter, prosecutors contend.

From early July until the shooting, there was more than one confrontation between Tod Carter and Wilson.

Prosecutors say that Tod Carter ran Wilson off from The Rootbeer Stand on more than one occasion.

Defense attorneys say Wilson never reported the incidents to police and didn’t file charges.

Night of the shooting

On the night of the shooting, Wilson had gotten a call to go to Woodbine to pull out a stuck ambulance. He and the ambulance driver spoke for about 15 minutes before he left the scene.

He stopped by The Rootbeer Stand to eat on the way home about 9:30 p.m. He had a 9mm Ruger pistol in a holster and was still buckled in his seat.

Scoville told jurors that Wilson and one of his employees always carried a gun because they would frequently be out late alone after dark.

Trimble noted that Wilson pulled into the restaurant knowing that Tod Carter didn’t want him around there.

"He knew that was in irritation to Tod Carter because he had an affair with his wife," Trimble contended during his opening statement. "Larry Wilson went to the A&W knowing he wasn’t welcome there because of his affair with Christie Carter."

Wilson had already gotten his food when Carter pulled up at the restaurant with his daughter inside the vehicle.

The two ordered their food and were there to pick up Christie Carter, when she got off work.

Prosecutors contend Wilson knew the couple had only one vehicle and that Tod Carter picked her up after work. Defense attorneys say Wilson didn’t know her schedule and that she would be working that night.

"He (Wilson) certainly didn’t know Tod was going to be there," Scoville told jurors.

When Tod Carter saw Wilson’s truck, he exited his vehicle, and started taking off his watch and necklace and left it in his vehicle.

"He was real nervous and his face was flushed. I told my wife the fight is on," witness James E. Grubb Jr. testified.
Carter’s daughter asked what was happening.

Amanda Blevins, who was eating at the restaurant and was parked next to Carter, testified Carter told his daughter, "I have to go over there and take care of something."

The shooting

According to witnesses, Tod Carter then walked over to Wilson’s wrecker and stepped up onto the bumper. Witnesses estimated that the heard a gun shot about two to three seconds later.

Twice during the trial Tuesday, prosecutors played the 911 call that Wilson made following the shooting.

The call, which is slightly over two minutes long, began with Wilson telling the operator that she "better get me an officer up here at the Rootbeer Stand."

After the 911 operator asked what happened, Wilson responded, "It’s Larry Wilson, Wilson Auto Repair, sitting up here having my lunch and this boy just came over and just knocked me in the head with a tray and I shot the son of a …"

"You shot him?" the 911 operator asked?

"Yes, I shot him," Wilson replied. "It makes twice he has threatened me and I’m tired of it."

Wilson can then be heard asking the dispatcher to get police and an ambulance to the restaurant. The dispatcher told Wilson they were on their way, and asked Wilson if he knew whom the man was that he shot.

"Yeah, he is a Carter. Tod Carter or somebody. I told him to back off and leave me alone. He hit me in the head with a mug and knocked the tray into the truck," Wilson said.

The dispatcher then asked if Carter hit Wilson with a tray.

Wilson explained that the tray was in his window, and that Carter took the mug off the tray and hit him in the eye before knocking the tray inside the truck.

"I told him just to back off and leave me alone. Then he started to come in my truck through the window and I shot him. I don’t know if he is alive or not," Wilson said.

None of the witnesses Tuesday testified to hearing what if anything was said when Carter jumped up on Wilson’s bumper.
Amanda and Darrell Blevins both testified they heard someone yell either before the shot was fired or afterwards, "I told you I would get you, you son of a …"

Neither knew who uttered the words.

After the shooting

After Carter was shot, witnesses testified to seeing him stager back and walk a few feet before collapsing with blood or another substance staining his shirt.

Amanda Blevins testified that after Carter was shot, his daughter got out of the vehicle.

Her husband, Darrell Blevins, intercepted the girl and handed her off to Amanda Blevins. She took the girl and her son into a restroom until police arrived and the ambulance took Carter to the hospital.

"No kid should see something like that," Amanda Blevins testified.

Faith White testified that she saw Tod Carter walk over to Wilson’s truck, and then heard what sounded like a fire cracker, followed by screams for someone to call 9-1-1.

She saw Carter stumbling around like he was drunk before collapsing.

"The closer he got to me, the more he started bleeding," White testified.

White, who was riding a motorcycle, ran over and put her jacket on top of Carter.

She stayed at his side until the ambulance arrived.

Darrell Blevins applied pressure to Carter’s chest trying to stop the bleeding.

Waitress Tammy Elliott, who waited on Wilson that evening, testified that after hearing what sounded like a "fire cracker" she saw Carter fall, and held his head until emergency workers arrived.

"He tried to move his head a little bit," but didn’t regain consciousness, she testified.

Carter was pronounced dead at Baptist Regional Medical Center shortly after he arrived there.

Endangerment charges

When Carter was shot, the bullet entered slightly under his arm pit and exited his body near his shoulder.
Police never found the bullet, which prosecutors contend struck a vehicle parked near Wilson’s truck.

Debra Lynn Poynter testified that she was at the restaurant with her husband, John Poynter, and their 7-year-old son.
She was preparing her son’s food when her heard "a loud bang and felt a thud."

John Poynter testified that he didn’t hear the shot, but did hear something hit the truck.

After the shooting, he found a dent in the vehicle that hadn’t been there before, which was about two inches from where his son was sitting.

Scoville contends that the trajectory of the bullet would have had its path going up, and that the bullet isn’t what hit the Poynter vehicle, but rather a piece of plastic that was shot off Wilson’s wrecker.

Tight security

Several police officers were on hand for the trial Tuesday in addition to the normal court bailiff and officers there to testify during the trial.

Security officers with the Administrative Office of the Courts set up a metal detector that prospective jurors and others had to pass through before entering the courtroom. Those with pocket knives had to take them back to their vehicles before being allowed inside the courtroom.

Several Williamsburg police officers were in the courtroom throughout the day as were two Kentucky State Police troopers and additional sheriff’s deputies.

Wilson has been lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center since the night of the shooting. He is being held in lieu of a $500,000 cash bond.

Wilson faces 20 to 50 years in prison or a life in prison if convicted of murder. The wanton endangerment charge carries a penalty up to five years in prison.