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UPDATED: Jury finds Wilson guilty of manslaughter in shooting death of Woodbine man
Posted On 04 Mar 2010
Following three days of testimony, a three-man, nine-woman jury needed nearly three hours to convict Williamsburg wrecker service owner Larry Wilson of second-degree manslaughter in the July 31 shooting death of Tod Carter.
Jurors returned to the Whitley Circuit Courtroom shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday with their verdict. Jurors had the option of convicting Wilson of murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree manslaughter under extreme emotional disturbance, second-degree manslaughter, reckless homicide or of acquitting Wilson in the slaying. Wilson contended that he acted in self-defense when he shot Carter one time near the left armpit.
Jurors found Wilson not guilty of wanton endangerment. Prosecutors alleged that the lone bullet, which killed Carter, also exited his body near his right shoulder and struck a nearby vehicle with three people inside. The shooting occurred about 9:30 p.m. on July 31 at the popular Corbin drive-in restaurant, The Rootbeer Stand.
Wilson had a brief affair with Carter’s wife, Kristi, which ended about one month before the shooting. About two weeks prior Tod Carter’s death, Tod Carter confronted Wilson at the restaurant where Kristi Carter worked as a waitress.
"I am pleased that we had a good jury that considered all the evidence, and I think they rendered a verdict that they felt was fair," said Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble, the prosecutor in the case.
"I would have liked to have seen him convicted of a greater charge, but once the jury gets these cases, it is up to them."
Trimble said he thinks the fact that Tod Carter walked over to Wilson’s vehicle for a confrontation is probably what led the jury to convict Wilson of a lesser offense than murder or first-degree manslaughter.
The forewoman of the jury wiped away a tear as she handed the courtroom bailiff the verdict. Over a dozen law enforcement officers were on hand to provide additional security as the verdict was read.
Afterwards, Circuit Clerk Gary Barton polled all 12 jurors, who responded "my verdict."
"It’s unanimous your honor," Barton informed Judge Dan Ballou.
Court recessed for about 45 minutes while prosecutors and the defense attorney worked out a deal for a recommended 7.5-year prison sentence.
Second-degree manslaughter carries a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison.
Wilson’s attorney, Warren Scoville, declined to comment on the case until after his client has been formally sentenced on May 3.
Testimony concludes
Testimony concluded shortly before noon Thursday during the third and final day of Wilson’s trial.
The prosecution only called one additional witness, Kristi Carter, Thursday morning before resting their case.
Wilson was the last witness to testify and took the stand in his own defense shortly before 11 a.m.
Kristi Carter testified that she and Tod had been married for 16 years at the time of the shooting, and that their daughter was two weeks shy of her 10th birthday when her father died.
"We had a lot of good times together. We had a lot of bad times together," Kristi Carter testified. "He had a drug problem. I had a cheating problem I guess you could say. We went back and forth several times."
The couple tried to keep as much of their marital problems from their daughter as they could.
Kristi Carter testified that the only split up twice after she was born. Once when she was a baby, and again when Kristi Carter started seeing Wilson last June.
Despite the drug problem, Kristi Carter said she never worried about things when her daughter was with Tod and that he was a good father.
"He was there for everything. He never missed a ball game. He never missed a dance recital," she said.
She said that it is difficult living with what happened.
"I have to wake up every morning and wake up my 10-year-old daughter knowing that I got her dad killed that is very hard to live with," she said crying on the witness stand.
Affair begins
Over the summer, Wilson was a regular customer at The Rootbeer Stand.
He and Kristi would sometimes get in conversations. One day Wilson asked her out.
"He said, ‘If I didn’t think I would get shot down, I would absolutely ask you out," Kristi Carter testified adding that she told Wilson she was married. He said that he was sorry.
Eventually the two exchanged cell phone numbers, and Kristi called Wilson first.
Wilson testified that she while she was married, she and her husband had trouble and she was looking for a way out.
The night before Father’s Day on June 20, Kristi and Tod Carter got into a fight. Kristi called Wilson and arranged for him to pick her up. They talked for a while and spent the night at his house. He took her to her mother’s house the next day.
The affair lasted for the next week with Kristi spending a few nights at Carter’s home.
During that week, Wilson left her generous tips at the restaurant. He said that he knew she was having a hard time and wanted to give her some money.
He took her to Knoxville on a shopping trip and spent about $600 to $700 on her and her daughter. Wilson also took her on a trip to the lake that Saturday along with one of his daughters and two of his grandchildren.
Break-up
Wilson and Kristi Carter both agree that they soon split up, but disagree on some of the details.
Wilson said that after the lake trip she took his truck and went to her mom’s home.
She called him and asked what he was doing checking up on her, and he told her that he hadn’t left the shop that evening.
She started getting riled up, and Wilson said he asked her to go ahead and bring his truck back.
Kristi Carter testified that she told Wilson she was going to see her daughter, and that he started crying and told her he had the feeling that she wouldn’t be back.
She bumped into Tod at a store. They talked and she went with him back home to show him how to pay some bills on-line, she testified.
She said that Wilson called her and knew where she was.
"I felt stalked I guess you could say," Kristi Carter testified.
Kristi said that she then went to her mother’s house, and that she saw Wilson drive by.
She said this freaked her out, and she called a friend and arranged for them to follow her back to Wilson’s home so she could drop off his truck.
Her and Tod soon reconciled.
Wilson continued to come by the restaurant and brought her flowers a few times, she testified.
She said that Tod knew that Wilson was the person she had the affair with from the first day.
From June 14 until July 9, Kristi Carter sent Wilson 522 text messages and 71 phone calls.
Wilson said that even though the two split up, he still cared about her, and sent her some flowers a few days later.
On June 29, Wilson sent flowers to Kristi at the restaurant with a note attached that said, "Love you and will remember you forever-Larry."
He said that the note meant, "it was over that was the end of it."
He denies stalking her, but said he did a lot of work in Corbin and still stopped by the restaurant to eat periodically.
"I didn’t stalk Kristi. I had no reason too," he testified.
First confrontation
About two weeks before the shooting, Wilson had stopped at The Rootbeer Stand to each lunch one day.
Tod Carter was on his way back from taking his daughter to the allergy doctor when he went by and saw Wilson there.
Tod Carter pulled in behind Wilson’s truck, got out and confronted Wilson by all accounts.
Kristi Carter said that she heard Tod tell Wilson basically that he didn’t want Wilson there, that he didn’t need to be there, and that he could find some place else to eat.
Later that day, Tod Carter drove by Wilson’s business on his motorcycle and called him out, but Wilson didn’t respond, Kristi testified.
She said texts that she sent Wilson made it clear that she didn’t want him around.
"He knew he was not welcome," she testified.
Under cross-examination, Wilson testified that he didn’t think about Tod Carter having animosity towards him over dating his wife.
"If she was happy, she wouldn’t have went out with me," he testified.
Wilson said that he knew Tod Carter was upset when he confronted him at The Rootbeer Stand.
"He said, ‘I will get you, you SOB. You will get something you can’t get out of," Wilson testified.
He disagreed to Carter ran him off that day, and said he stayed there and finished eating his food.
Wilson said he didn’t see Carter on a motorcycle in front of his house later that day.
He agreed there were other places he could have eaten, but noted that The Rootbeer Stand had "awful good hamburgers.’
Wilson noted that Carter didn’t say anything about not coming back to the restaurant.
Wilson testifies
Wilson said that he visited The Rootbeer Stand frequently before and after the affair.
"I like their food and go there quite often," he testified.
On the night of the shooting, Wilson said that he got the call to tow an ambulance stuck on Carter Street about 7:30 p.m.
He drove there from his home near Williamsburg, and it took about an hour to get the wrecker loose.
He then stopped by the restaurant to eat on his way home.
Wilson said that he didn’t know Kristi was there, didn’t go to there to see her, and didn’t know Tod Carter would be there that evening.
Wilson said that he carried a weapon most of the time, and always after dark.
Tod Carter was unarmed, according to various witness accounts.
The shooting-Wilson’s account
Wilson said that he still had his seatbelt on when his food was delivered.
The tray was placed in the window, which was rolled up enough to hold it.
He brought the box with the food inside the cab, but left the rootbeer mug on the tray.
"All at once the tray came through and hit me in the side of the face," Wilson testified.
He was then his hard with what he assumes was the rootbeer mug, Wilson said.
"He said ‘I told you I would get you you son of a bitch,’" Wilson testified.
Carter came inside the vehicle and grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and struck him with the rootbeer mug with the other, Wilson said.
"He hit me so hard I pulled my gun and fired," Wilson testified. "I mean to get him off me. He was going to kill me."
"I guess I was angry. I didn’t know what to do. He hit me pretty hard."
Wilson said that he had pulled the gun from his holster, laid it beside his leg, and fired upward.
After the shooting, Wilson said he laid the gun down, called 911, and then unloaded the gun and waited for police inside the vehicle.
Trimble noted that one person testified to hearing someone say the phrase, "I’ll get you, you SOB," around the time of the shooting but didn’t know who said it.
He pointed out that it is the same phrase Wilson used to describe Carter in the 911 call he made after the shooting.
Wilson said that Carter hit his three times before he shot him, and that he didn’t see Carter before Carter hit him with the rootbeer mug.
"Tod Carter was trying to kill me," Wilson testified. "He was beating me with a rootbeer mug trying to bust my skull."
The shooting-Kristi Carter’s account
Kristi Carter said that she had just gotten done taking a break and came back around from the side of the building when she saw Wilson’s wrecker parked at the restaurant.
She went back inside figuring that she would wait for him to leave before going back out.
About five minutes later, her friend, Melissa Mullis came inside to tell her Tod was there, and that he planned to confront Wilson.
She had her hand on the doorknob to go outside to try and stop her husband when she heard the gunshot. She stepped outside and saw her husband, she testified.
"He staggered pouring blood with this look on his face I can’t even describe," Kristi said.
Closing arguments were expected to begin about 2 p.m. Thursday in Wilson’s trial, but didn’t start until after 6 p.m. as it took attorneys for both sides more than four hours to agree on jury instructions.
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I’m not a vendictive person but I to run out of gas on the off
ramp in 2002 Larry got my truck I went to get it back when I could afford it and the man pulled a gun on me in his office
for reaching for my coke that I had sat down on his desk
his daughter was there and told him not to be so extreme
this man would not even take the late Sr. croleys chk and
made me return with cash before he would release my
truck I’m glad I was not on the Jury BUT thank them for
thier Justice I also think that our Officials should do a better
Job of useing people That thay know are vilant And addics
to tow cars off public rds. state police and sheriff both have used this man for years Larry has no doult shown up more
Impiared to recover for them than the people thay Pulled over
larry wilson is a very dangerous man i myself and a friend stopped by his junkyard one day to ask about some car parts he comes up to us starts cussing and yealling really loud threats demanding us to get out of the car this is a man in which we dont know and had never met well when we wouldnt get out of the car he starts kicking the car with his foot and yealing out threats at this point we had to drive away to avoid a fight
I can’t believe unbiased intelligent person could read this story and think that Wilson murdered anybody! PLEASE! Come on, Carter took off his jewelry and sneaked up on the man! He was seatbelted in the truck, what was he supposed to do? According to the testimony, Wilson has children and grandchildren too, right? We’re all somebody’s Mom or Dad or sister or brother of son or daughter, so what? So we should be able to sneak up on somebody eating in his truck and beat the snot out of them, all the while calling him an SOB and yelling threats. TIME SERVED ONLY, that’s all he should get. And that’s only because there is no way to give any of it back to him!
larry is a pill head 2 remember when larry was seeing bobby freemans wife or girlfriend “whatever” so is it okay to kill drug addics?you ppl are stupid murder is murder. I hope his kids gets everything larry owns haha. I noticed you can now run out of gas without having it stole by larry
If I had been a member of the jury, Wilson would have received time served. If someone jumps on my running board and starts hitting me, I would have give him the same thing that Wilson gave him. If he was driving with his daughter in the car, he was doing her no favors. What if he had hit you and killed your daughter, what would you have thought then! DRUGS KILL!
Romans 6:23 (KJV)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What really angers me about all this is that an innocent little girl now has to live with the horror of watching her dad be killed the rest of her life.
All because her mom and dad acted like trash.
Self Defense is a hard thing to prove, even if you think you are justified. But when you think you’re going to die or be permanently injured, self preservation comes to your mind. After reading all of the testimony and I know I wasn’t there, I would have found him guilty under extreme emotional disturbance. Why? He knew Tod Carter had frequented the restaurant and Kristi worked there as well. Maybe Wilson should have gotten a peace bond or some other kind of legal paper against him, who knows. But one thing is certain, Kristi is the cause of all of this, no two ways about it. She is a cheating wife and she caused the death of her childrens father, the child will never forget the scene. I think that he might win on appeal, or be given shock probation. This is a tragedy. The Brewer assault case starts on March 11, and Brewer is a drug addict. Ramey isn’t guilty. I hope the jury reads these comments and is aware of what Brewer is up to. Whitley County is Corrupt.
retraction, the corbin police deptartment did there best to investigate this. But in a small county like Whitley there has always been a tend to lean towards the well to do. I will be praying for everyone involved and I hope everybody will pray for what is a sad situation.
well I look at it like this. If willson was man enough to do this guy wife he should have been man enough to fight instead of shoot. You should only use deadly force if threatoned with deadly force. What if that child in the other vehicle had caught the stray bullet and died? And it is true if you have friends in the police department in corbin you can get away with murder. As to the decieced being on drugs it doesnt change the fact he was a human being, father, son, and sometimes husband. I am a firm believer in the 2nd amendment. But from what I have seen here this was murder. And a little girl has to pay for it.
todd was never good for anything he was a pill popper and an addict
jump on my trucks running board and see if you still live
larry wilson did not go to the rootbeer stand that day with the intention of murdering carter. he went to get food plain and simple. tod carter is the one who was out driving around with his daughter in the car on drugs. he is the one who left his daughter in the car to start something with wilson. wilson was only defending himself. was it right for him to do it by pulling a gun and shooting? no, and that’s why he got charged with manslaughter and not murder. he had as much as a right as anybody to eat where he wanted.
larry wilson can cry self defense all he wants,but the fact is he is a cold blooded murderer,and who was on drugs is not the point!larry took a good man’s life!tod did not deserve to die.kristi should be held accountable too for her actions.she is to blame for killing her husband just as much as larry.both of them needs to be buried under the jail.i knew from the beginning that kristi would get tod killed,she got what she wanted,i hope she is happy with herself!
Wilson had the right to protect himself carter was a drugie and did not have enough brains left to leave well enough alone HIS WIFE is who he had a problem with not Wilson ,,Larry had the right to eat anywhere he wanted to eat,,, Carter was looking for trouble and all accounts told in the story prove that,,,HE REMOVED ITEMS FROM HIS BODY he did not want damaged,, HE WENT TO LARRY WILSON TRUCK,,,HE JUMPED ON THE RUNNING BOARD AND STARTED A FIGHT HE LOST THAT FIGHT AND WILL NEVER FIGHT AGAIN now LARRY WILSON has to pay for carter being STUPID and not fixing this problem that was between him and his wife
I think Wilson should have gotten more time.He killed a man!He knew what he was doing.He should have stayed away from there and away from Kristi.That’s stupid thinking a husband would not have a problem with him dating his wife.They were together 16 yrs! Of course it would bother him.If he was scared of Tod then he should have gotten his cop buddys to bust him.And another thing even if Tod was doing drugs who cares he was still a human being a father a brother a husband and someones son.You people should think before you write.
I think he should have walked. If that drug head had stayed in his car he my be getting high today.
Friend of Tod is stupid. Look at testimony. I would do the same thing that Larry Wilson did in the same circumstance. Tod was too stupid to live…bottom line. He just wanted to show off and got the worst end of the deal. Drugs will make you crazy. Thats a fact
this is a joke. what a justice system we have. wilson murdered tod in cold blood and gets a slap on the wrist, guess everyone was right, money talks in this town.