Father Convicted Of Murdering Three Sons, Their Half-Sister

The Strange Case of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka - book

Father Convicted Of Murdering
Three Sons, Their Half-Sister
Shelbyville, Tenn. - A man was convicted Tuesday of lining up his three sons and the boys' half-sister and shooting them after he had told them they were going Christmas shopping.
A jury deliberated one hour in finding Daryl Keith Holton guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. The trial immediately went into the sentencing phase.
The state is seeking the death penalty for the 36-year-old Holton.
The children thought they were going Christmas shopping when Holton picked them up on Nov. 30, 1997. Instead, they stopped by the auto body repair shop where he worked.
At the shop, 4-year-old Kayla, Crystle Holton's daughter by another man, wrote a letter asking Santa Claus to bring her a "Tickle Me Elmo'' doll for Christmas.
Then, police said, Holton shot each child from the back with a Russian-made, semiautomatic assault weapon. The bodies of Kayla, Steven, 12; Eric, 6, and Brent, 10, were found stacked on top of one another, underneath a tarp.
Holton went looking for his former wife and her boyfriend but could not find them, police said, then turned himself in.
During the trial, his lawyer argued that Holton was a caring father but severely depressed at the time of the slayings. Officers said he told them he was afraid he would never gain custody of the children.
Crystle Holton said at the time of the shootings that she had kept the children away from him after filing a protective order because he was abusive.
June 15, 1999
Source: Newswire
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