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The second day of the murder trial of John Wayne Peck in Caroline County was perplexing almost from the start.
It began with the defendant hyperventilating and getting rescue squad assistance when the prosecutor introduced as an exhibit the camouflage shirt victim Jerry Beverly was wearing the day he was fatally shot.
And throughout the day, Circuit Judge Horace Revercomb spent considerable time making decisions about whether various evidence or testimony from witnesses was admissible or not.
Peck, 29, is charged with fatally shooting Beverly, 61, in the fall of 2006 after a dove hunting trip in which there was heavy drinking by those involved.
Early on the second day of the trial, Caroline Commonwealth's Attorney Tony Spencer presented the camouflage shirt. The defense attorney immediately asked for a recess.
Seconds later, Peck ran out of the courtroom with his hands over his mouth, and struggling to breathe.
A rescue squad was called to bring in oxygen for Peck, who could be heard crying and yelling, "I didn't do this."
Peck later returned and a second videotaped interview of the defendant, taken just hours after the shooting, was played for the jurors. In it, he again said the shooting was an accident.
He said Beverly had gotten upset and started walking home because a few friends had playfully accused him of stealing a gun, according to the video statement.
Peck said he offered him a ride home and then they started talking about turkey calls.
When they arrived at Beverly's home on Rozell Road, Peck said on the video that Beverly stepped out of the truck with his own rifle, but then reached in to pick up Peck's .44-caliber Magnum revolver, saying something to the effect of shooting Peck's toes off.
Peck said on the video that he brushed Beverly's hand away, and then proceeded to place the revolver in the back when the gun went off and Beverly was shot.
He said when he didn't get a response from Beverly he "freaked out" and drove away. He also admitted to throwing the gun over a bridge into the Ni River. The gun was later recovered.
In the video, Peck said, "I've got too much to lose. A good job. A good fiancee. A good life ahead of me. It was a complete accident. I'm a good person."
"People can say what they want," he said on the video. "But you don't know what you'll do in that position. I did not mean for this to happen."
After the prosecutor rested his case, defense attorney Jon David called several witnesses.
Mike "Bruce" Heflin III, 16, and his mother, Nina, both testified that Beverly had been playing around with the pistol several times that day and that Peck was constantly taking it away from him.
Spencer asked the teen why he didn't mention that in his 2006 statement or why the mother never mentioned it at all until yesterday.
"Nobody asked me," Nina Heflin said.
Without the jury present, the defense called a psychiatrist to the stand who said he would testify that the reason Peck left the scene was because he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after the shooting--not because he was trying to flee or conceal evidence. But the judge ruled his testimony inadmissible.
Peck, who has been free on bond, again declined to talk, but his grandmother Maie Garnett, who raised him since he was an infant, said she is ready for this to be over.
"Him and his family have been tormented for three years," she said.
Beverly's two children, five siblings and ex-wife said they are being tormented, too.
"It just feel funny for him [Peck] to be walking around loose," Barbara Hill, Beverly's sister, said.
The trial will resume today at 9 a.m.
Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419
Email: psmith@fredericksburg.com
