http://www.independentmail.com/news/2007/feb/18/guilty-guilty/
Guilty, guilty
Bixby convicted of slaying two officers in land dispute
By Charmaine Smith-Miles (Contact)
Sunday, February 18, 2007
ABBEVILLE — It took a jury a little more than two hours to make a decision that two Abbeville families had been waiting three years to hear.
Steven Vernon Bixby was found guilty of gunning down Abbeville County Sheriff’s Sgt. Danny Wilson and S.C. Constable Donnie Ouzts in cold blood on Dec. 8, 2003. And that news was "like winning the lottery without getting the money," Sgt. Wilson’s sister, Marilyn Lee, said.
Now the Wilson family and the Ouzts family are praying for another round of justice.
"I hope they fry him," said Mr. Ouzts’ grandson, Blake Ouzts.
"He needs to feel what we feel. He needs to feel the fear over losing his life that our loved ones felt."
It was a quiet courtroom here in this small town Sunday night as Judge Alexander MacCaulay read "guilty" 17 times on charges of double murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, assault with intent to kill and possession of a deadly weapon.
Bixby showed little emotion when the verdicts were read.
Now the jury is allowed a 24-hour resting period before it comes back to court to hear testimony in the sentencing phase.
Before the jury decides whether Bixby will receive the death penalty, the state and the defense have to present testimony as to the New Hampshire native’s character.
For the Wilson and Ouzts families, there is no doubt as to Bixby’s character. As they hugged, cried and whispered praises of joy outside the courthouse, they also spoke of how Bixby kept a smirk on his face during the five-day trial.
Bixby and his parents were upset the state wanted about 20 feet of land near their home on S.C. 72 to widen the highway. Bixby and his father had threatened to gun down any officer on their land, according to witnesses.
"We can’t bring them back, but it feels good to know justice has been served," Sgt. Wilson’s oldest sister, Joanne Wilson, said. "For the first time, not to see a smirk on Steve Bixby’s face. …"
Hugs were shared and sighs of relief were released from the courtroom that held its largest audience to date for the trial, which started Wednesday.
Bixby had stockpiled shotguns and ammunition in his parents’ home and told a former girlfriend he was ready for a fight, according to testimony in the case.
Later, he bragged in a letter that he could have killed more people.
"Well, he’s just a hell of a nice guy, isn’t he? He only shot two people and he could have shot eight," Mr. Peace said during his closing statements.
Sgt. Wilson was the first to die in the shootings at the Bixby home. He had gone there to discuss the family’s anger over the road, only to be mowed down while standing on the front porch, his body then dragged inside, according to authorities.
Mr. Ouzts arrived to check on Wilson once radio contact with the officer was lost. He was shot as he stepped out of his patrol car and died on the way to the hospital.
Police surrounded the house for the rest of the day and the standoff finally ended after hundreds of rounds were exchanged. Bixby’s father, Arthur Bixby, was wounded in the fusillade and also charged with murder. No trial date has been set in his case.
Rita Bixby, Steven’s mother, was charged as an accessory because authorities say she knew her family planned to harm police officers. She was not home when the shootings took place.
Approximately 150 people turned out for the closing arguments. They all sat and listened intently as defense attorney Bill Nettles and Eighth Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace made their pleas for the jury to consider how that fateful December day played out.
Ultimately, the jurors had two choices:
Did Bixby shoot down Sgt. Wilson and Mr. Ouzts that day and then engage 100-plus officers in one of the most violent firefights in the state’s recent history?
Or was he acting in his and his father’s defense in that shootout?
In a half-hour closing argument, Mr. Nettles asked the jury to consider the second option.
"Nobody thinks Steven Bixby should be given a key to the city," Mr. Nettles told the jury. "But they only shot people that made them feel threatened. It wasn’t about shooting people on Dec. 8, 2003. It was about their property."
The claim of self defense should be thrown out, Mr. Peace argued.
"When you are charged with murder, you do three things," he told the jury. "It’s either, ‘I didn’t do it.’ ‘It was an accident.’ Or, ‘It was self defense.’ It is clear it wasn’t an accident when Mr. Ouzts was shot in the back."
He held up Mr. Ouzts’ shirt and told the jury that Mr. Ouzts put that piece of clothing on to go out and make a living. And then he was shot for trying to help a fellow officer.
As for Sgt. Wilson, Mr. Peace said that’s an open-and-shut case as well. He said Sgt. Wilson simply knocked on the door of the Bixby home that morning and was met with gunfire.
For emphasis, the solicitor also held up Sgt. Wilson’s blood-soaked shirt. Then the clink of metal was heard in the courtroom. Mr. Peace pulled out Sgt. Wilson’s handcuffs and put a photo on the screen of the sergeant’s hands that were cuffed behind his back while he bled to death on the Bixbys’ living room floor.
"His life is running out on the floor right there, and this guy is reading him his Miranda rights and putting him under citizen’s arrest for trespassing," Mr. Peace said, his voice rising in anger. "What kind of crap is that?
"Ladies and gentlemen, we can’t let that happen in this county. We can’t let that happen in this state. We can’t let that happen in this country. We don’t care if it’s ‘Live free or Die,’" he said, citing a New Hampshire motto. "We can’t let that happen in this country."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.