Defendant tried to contact, threaten jury in Tarrant death penalty trial, authorities say
A capital murder defendant whose death penalty trial began on Monday in Tarrant County has attempted to contact jurors and instructed another inmate to tell members of the panel that Bloods gang members were flying from California to kill them, a sheriff’s office investigation determined.
The names and telephone numbers of the 14 seated jurors in the case were found in Christopher Turner’s cell after Judge Ruben Gonzalez ordered the sheriff’s office to search for material that contained jurors’ personal information, according to a summary of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office investigation.
Gonzalez ordered the search after a juror received an email from the inmate working on Turner’s behalf that sought further contact. The juror did not respond and reported the message to authorities.
If the jury finds Turner guilty of capital murder, it will consider a punishment of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Turner is accused of shooting to death Anwar Ali, a 62-year-old convenience store owner, during a robbery at Ali’s business on a rural road.
In October, Turner, who is 48, tried to call and email a prospective juror after the man had been excused. The prospective juror testified that he was a writer and would be interested in serving as a juror in the case because it would provide interesting material on which to write.
As the man left the courtroom after being excused, he turned to defendant and said, “Good luck, young man.”
Turner hoped the potential juror would write a book about perceived injustices in the case, according to defense attorneys Gary Smart and Eric Nickols.
Judge Gonzalez suspended Turner’s unmonitored telephone access and later directed that Turner be isolated from other inmates. The judge also cut off the defendant’s ability to eat outside food after a report that Turner tried to make a weapon from the bones of chicken wings provided by his defense attorneys.
The restrictions spurred mental tumult within Turner, and he suffered a panic attack, Smart told Judge Gonzalez. Smart requested that the judge order Turner to receive a mental health evaluation. In response, Gonzalez asked Nickols whether he considered the defendant to be competent. Gonzalez denied the evaluation request when Nickols answered that he did.
Turner shot Ali at the Super Big Country Mart at FM 1187 and Stevenson Levy Road on March 27, 2020, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office alleges.
This store is in unincorporated Tarrant County, near Rendon and Burleson.
Originally from Pakistan, Ali lived in Euless and was shot to death upon opening his store after attending a morning mosque service, as was his daily routine.
He held the store door open for the man who would kill him, authorities said.
The slaying was motivated by Turner’s greed and indifference to the value of human life, Assistant Criminal District Attorney Allenna Bangs told the jury Monday in the state’s opening statement at the trial in the 432nd District Court in Tarrant County.
Ali’s life of hard work was “wiped away in an instant,” Bangs, who is prosecuting the case with Charles Boulware, said.
When he was arrested in Colorado, Turner wore a bag that held the gun that was used to kill Ali, Bangs said. The weapon was, the prosecutor said, among the “mounds of evidence” in the case connecting Turner to the homicide.
Bangs told the jury that it would hear accomplice testimony and the required corroboration. Turner arrived at the convenience store with two other men.
In the defense opening statement, Smart said an accomplice has much to gain by testifying against a codefendant, that the sheriff’s office investigation was shoddy and that no fingerprint or DNA links Turner to the killing.
“Remember the presumption of innocence,” Smart said.
The defense attorney acknowledged that upon his arrest, Turner was found with an item of significance.
“He is found with the murder weapon,” Smart said.
Before the opening statements, prosecutor Bangs read the indictment, and Judge Gonzalez asked the defendant for his plea.
“Not guilty, but I’m ...” As Turner continued speaking, Gonzalez cut him off.
“Thank you,” the judge said.
Sonja Amason, who worked cleaning and stocking shelves at the store, was the state’s first witness. Amason testified that she discovered her boss’ body after she did not find him in his usual morning spot drinking coffee in a side room.
Amason said she approached the store’s bathroom.
The door was cracked open. The light was off.
She called out twice before opening the door.
Ali’s body was on the floor.
His eyes were open. His pockets were inside out. Blood was on the wall.
He had been shot in his neck.
A bullet’s cartridge casing was in the sink.
The trial is expected to take a couple of weeks to complete.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 3:03 PM.
