Fayette jury convicts slaying suspect
It took a Fayette County jury about 30 minutes to convict a Uniontown man of first-degree murder for beating his live-in girlfriend to death in 2006, prompting applause in the courtroom. Judge John F. Wagner Jr. immediately sentenced Walter Fordyce to life in prison following the verdict Tuesday afternoon. Fordyce, 60, sat at counsel table with his hand on his chin as each juror affirmed the verdict.
By returning the first-degree verdict, jurors determined that Fordyce had a specific intent to kill Mary McCann, 54, at their home at 70 Carlisle St. in Uniontown on April 13, 2006. He threw a microwave at her following an argument, stomped on her chest and slammed her head off the floor.
McCann’s upper body was badly bruised, her ribs broken, liver lacerated and nose broken in the beating.
McCann’s daughter, Traci Klink of Uniontown, said after the verdict that she was hopeful that Fordyce would spend the remainder of his life “becoming aware of his actions, and how he could have played a positive role in the lives of others around him.
“Today has not been a time to celebrate our justice system, or his guilty verdict. Instead, a time to mourn the loss of a soul that left behind so many joyful memories and love,” Klink said.
She said she wants memories of her mother to be loving and happy. While her mother was an alcoholic, Klink said she also was a wonderful person.
“To form an opinion of her based on her illness and the entire characteristic behaviors that resulted from such is surely ignorant,” Klink said. “Her soul would smile if just one person would benefit from this tragedy. Her death would not be in vain.”
She encouraged people to accept responsibility for their choices, and to let go of blame and anger over past issues, and focus on personal growth.
“Help is available to those in need, as a community we need to raise the awareness of such agencies that administer these services,” Klink said.
Assistant Public Defender Thomas W. Shaffer argued that Fordyce was too intoxicated to appreciate what he was doing, and should have been convicted of a lesser count of homicide. Fordyce testified that he consumed about 20 beers, and eight of the anti-anxiety pill, Xanax, before beating McCann to death.
“He could not form the legal intent to (commit) first-degree homicide,” Shaffer said.
He told jurors that they must follow the law, and mitigate Fordyce’s degree of guilt if they believed he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
In her closing, District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon repeatedly touched on the brutality of McCann’s death, and argued that Fordyce knew what he was doing when he threw the microwave, stomped on her and slammed her head against the ground.
“What more could he have intended to do than to kill her for what he did?” Vernon asked the jury of six men and six women.
She listed the numerous injuries McCann suffered, which included 19 fractures to her ribs, a lacerated liver, head wounds, bruises and cuts to her body, a broken nose, and “bruises to her face and neck that were solid and swollen.”
“That’s why this is a case of first-degree murder,” Vernon said. “We can only hope she was unconscious … when he beat her head into the floor.”
Vernon noted that Fordyce remembered clearly the details of the day, and only got fuzzy on his memory of the events that led to McCann’s death. She likened McCann, at 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 110 pounds, to a “rag doll” once Fordyce got hold of her.
During his testimony, Fordyce acknowledged beating McCann following an argument over whether he would heat up a sandwich.
He also said McCann got angry because he was watching the television show “Judge Judy.” McCann said he cared about the television more than her, Fordyce testified.
He said he got angry and went into the dining room, where the microwave was plugged in and sitting on a stand.
“Here, do it yourself,” he said he told her.
Fordyce said the microwave “landed in her lap,” which was different than what he told police. Officers testified he acknowledged throwing the appliance at McCann.
When McCann kept yelling at him, Fordyce testified he got increasingly irritated.
“I bounced her head off the floor two times and I tramped on her chest two times,” he told jurors.
He denied hitting her in the face on direct examination, but later told Vernon that he couldn’t remember if he hit McCann in the face.
Fordyce testified that he fell asleep, and when he woke up, McCann was at the bottom of the steps that led to the upstairs.
After failed attempts at reviving her, Fordyce testified that he went to a friend’s house to call 911, but that friend was not home. He came back to the house, drank a beer and cleaned before going to a neighbor’s to have her call for help, Fordyce testified.
Though he acknowledged harming McCann, Fordyce said he never intended to kill her.
“I loved that girl,” he testified.
In his closing remarks, Shaffer told jurors that Fordyce’s attempts to revive McCann illustrated that love, a contention that made Vernon bristle.
“That is the kind of love Mary McCann could have lived without,” the prosecutor said in her closing remarks. “What he did that day was no where near love.”
“Justice was served,” Vernon said following the verdict. “I’m glad the jury was able to appreciate the brutality of the killing, and was not deterred by the fact that he may have been intoxicated.”
Before Wagner sentenced him, Fordyce offered an apology to McCann’s family, but said her death was “an accident.”
In his sentence, Wagner ordered Fayette County Prison Warden Larry Medlock to forward Fordyce’s medical records to the state prison system. The judge also advised state authorities that Fordyce is a chronic alcoholic with psoriasis of the liver.
Although Fordyce has 30 days to appeal, Shaffer said he signed a waiver of appeal.
“He accepts the determination of the jury,” Shaffer said.