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| Prosecutor describes vicious attack on Angola prison guard |
| By theadvocate.com - Steven Ward |
| Published: 10/11/2013 |
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Barry S. Edge initiated a “frenzy of violence” with other inmates at Angola when he slammed a hammer into the side of correctional officer David C. Knapps’ head, prosecutors told a jury Tuesday. Prosecutor Tommy Block called Edge a leader and a major participant with a pivotal role in the death of Knapps during a botched escape attempt by six inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1999. Edge is the last of five defendants to go to trial in the so-called Angola 5 case. One of Edge’s defense attorneys, Steven Lemoine, told jurors that Edge did not intend to kill Knapps during the doomed Dec. 28, 1999, escape attempt. He said weapons that Edge and the other inmates had were for intimidation purposes only. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Edge in his first-degree murder trial. The trial started with opening statements Tuesday afternoon. Edge, serving a life sentence at Angola for a second-degree murder conviction, and inmates Jeffrey Clark, David Brown, Robert G. Carley and David Mathis were all indicted on first-degree murder charges following the slaying of Knapps during an escape attempt from Angola’s Camp D Education Building. Clark and Brown were each found guilty and sentenced to death while Carley received a second life sentence after his jury failed to unanimously agree on a death sentence. Mathis pleaded guilty in 2011 in exchange for a life sentence. A sixth inmate that participated in the escape, Joel Durham, was shot and killed during the standoff with law enforcement after officers stormed the building to rescue two remaining security officers the inmates held as hostages during the incident. During opening statements, Lemoine told the jury that Edge is partly responsible for the death of Knapps but because he had no intent to kill or harm Knapps, should only be convicted of second-degree murder. Read More. |
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