A Jasper County jury found Greathouse guilty of first degree murder July 17, 2017, following a three-day trial.
The appellate panel rejected Greathouse's contention that his confession should have been thrown out and that his sister's testimony should not have been allowed.
The case is described in the unanimous opinion:
When Anita Dunn went missing, police immediately suspected Defendant, her landlord. Police first interviewed Defendant on May 31. We omit loathsome details out of respect for the victim as Defendant does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction.
Defendant denied involvement in Dunn’s disappearance and answered questions for some 20 minutes, then invoked his right to counsel, declined to answer other questions, made bond on an unrelated misdemeanor, and was released.
Police recovered Dunn’s body from an abandoned mine shaft two days later. She had been strangled.
The next morning, June 3, Defendant told his wife that he had killed Dunn. He also confessed to his sister, describing how he had strangled Dunn and dumped her body. His sister notified police, who arrested Defendant that afternoon, took him to an interview room, and Mirandized him at 3:56 p.m.
Defendant said he wanted to cooperate, but that a lawyer had told him not to talk to police. Defendant consistently maintained that position, despite gentle invitations to tell his side of the story during unsuccessful attempts to call the attorney, after which Defendant was moved to a holding cell.
Alone in the holding cell, Defendant called his wife at 7:30 p.m. They talked for nearly eight minutes. She begged Defendant to come clean to the police:
[Wife]: Todd, listen to me please. … I beg you, with everything that is within me, I love you, please find a nice person there and just try to explain things, please.
[Defendant]: Is that what you think I need to do?
[Wife]: Yes, Todd. Please, let’s get this nightmare behind us, please.
[Defendant]: That detective told me I could talk to him and call him anytime if I wanted to talk.
[Wife]: Todd, talk to him.
[Defendant]: OK, I’m going to. OK, I’m going to –
[Wife]: Talk to him.
After that call, Defendant asked a jailer to summon a detective, who Mirandized Defendant again at 7:50 p.m. Before any question was asked, Defendant volunteered that “I’m just gonna be honest … I did kill this woman. OK? But I would like to give you a statement on that.”
Defendant proceeded to detail everything on video, first a statement at the police station, then a filmed “walkthrough” of his actions at the murder scene and along the route he took to dispose of the corpse.
The admission of those statements at trial, where jurors took just 27 minutes to find Defendant guilty, is Defendant’s first complaint on appeal.
Defendant claims the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and admitting his statements at trial. We will reverse only if we find clear error.
The decision noted that Greathouse's confession had not only not been coerced, but that he had already said during another portion of the telephone conversation with his wife that he was not getting his money's worth out of his lawyer.
What the record shows – and the trial court obviously credited – was Defendant’s wife begging him to fess up to the police, Defendant assuring her that he would, then Defendant promptly and voluntarily doing so.
As relevant to our review, we now quote Defendant’s phone call with his wife even more fully:
[Defendant]: I told them, I said, I want to cooperate and say everything I think I know, you know, but this lawyer told me not to say anything ….
[Wife]: Listen to me, please listen to me. … I feel as though that $100 that was spent today on [attorney] was nothing but a big waste of money.
[Defendant]: Right. …
[Defendant]: Listen, honey, listen, I just wanted to make sure you are home safe, OK? I was so worried about that, you know? Linda I am so sorry. … Did you [ever] get ahold of that lawyer?
[Wife]: No, Todd, look. … This sh*t’s all over the news. …
[Defendant]: Is my name on the news?
[Wife]: I’m gonna assume so because people [are] blowing my phone up. …
[Defendant]: Listen, Linda. I told that cop I want to cooperate and say everything I think I know, you know, but I –
[Wife]: Todd, listen to me please.
[Defendant]: Yes. [Wife]: I beg you, with everything that is within me, I love you, please find a nice person there and just try to explain things, please.
[Defendant]: Is that what you think I need to do?
[Wife]: Yes, Todd. Please, let’s get this nightmare behind us, please.
[Defendant]: That detective told me I could talk to him and call him anytime if I wanted to talk.
[Wife]: Todd, talk to him.
[Defendant]: OK, I’m going to. OK, I’m going to –
[Wife]: Talk to him.
[Defendant]: I’m gonna try to get hold of someone and get him back up here and I’m just going to tell him the truth then, Linda. …
[Wife]: Todd, listen, just be nice to them.
[Defendant]: Honey, I have been. OK, that’s all I needed to hear from you. I’m going to get this detective back up here and I’m gonna probably be talking to him half the night then, OK?
The appellate court also denied Greathouse's contention that the jury should not have heard the testimony of his sister.
In two transcript pages of direct examination, she related, without objection, only that Defendant said he had murdered Dunn in anger, choking her with his hands, finishing her off with a lamp cord, then tied a rock around her body and dropped her down a mineshaft. Defendant disputed none of this at trial. The defense, in opening statement, admitted that Defendant strangled Dunn. Defendant testified in great and grisly detail how he killed Dunn, secreted her body, and lied to cover up his crime.
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