Jenny H. Blackmon (left), mother of Sheryl Wood, who was killed in the Phelon shooting, is consoled by her daughter Wanda Wood and Jimmy Wood, Sheryl Wood's uncle, after the verdict was read in the trial of Arthur Hastings Wise. RON COCKERILLE/STAFF

Jury convicts Wise on all counts

Jury deliberations take less than one hour

Web posted Tuesday, January 30, 2001

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By Greg Rickabaugh
South Carolina Bureau

AIKEN - Arthur Hastings Wise moved one step closer to death row Monday when a jury convicted him in a 1997 rampage in which four workers were killed at the R.E. Phelon Co. plant.

The jury, which deliberated for less than an hour, found Mr. Wise guilty of the assault at his former workplace Sept. 15, 1997, an act of rage that apparently stemmed from two months before when the machine operator from North Augusta was fired for being aggressive with a supervisor.

The verdict means the jury will enter the sentencing phase Wednesday morning, after a mandated 24-hour ``cooling-off'' period. The same out-of-town jury that convicted him will decide whether he should spend the rest of his life in prison or die for the crimes.

Mr. Wise, 46, stood motionless when the verdicts were read at 6:07 p.m. But defense attorney Carl B. Grant, sitting beside him, said he heard his client's reaction.

``He sighed. No words,'' Mr. Grant said. ``When you are convicted of murder and could be sentenced to death in the following days, you're going to be disappointed.''

Emotion poured from the victims' relatives and Phelon workers, who filled more than five rows of the courtroom. Many held hands, and others wiped tears or wrapped their arms around each other.

The tears flowed from Wanda Wood, sister of shooting victim Sheryl Wood.

``We've been waiting 3´ years for this,'' she said. ``This was my sister and my best friend.''

Monday was a good day for the judicial system, said the victim's aunt, Joyce Wood.

``I was not surprised because I had confidence in the people of South Carolina,'' she said.

Second Circuit Solicitor Barbara R. Morgan said the verdicts were a long time coming, not only for the victims and three people wounded in the attack, but also for the Phelon workers ``whose lives were irrevocably changed because of the actions of Hastings Wise.''

``I'm relieved for the victims. We know they needed closure,'' she said.

On Wednesday, Ms. Morgan plans to present relatives of the victims as witnesses. The solicitor will then ask the jury for a death sentence.

``It's my job to seek the death penalty. In this case, like no other, I think the death penalty is more than appropriate,'' she said.

Lead defense attorney Gregory Harlow said he wasn't surprised by the guilty verdicts considering the evidence.

``In a death penalty phase, you've got to go through this phase to get to the sentencing phase,'' he said. ``The focus of this case will be to avoid the death penalty.''

Arthur Hastings Wise (right) faces the possibility of a death sentence after his conviction RON COCKERILLE/STAFF

In closing arguments Monday, Ms. Morgan recalled the mountain of evidence against Mr. Wise, described last weekend in vivid detail by 17 Phelon officials and bolstered Monday by the testimony of forensic experts.

The defendant drove to the Phelon plant ``to do his business that day, which was murder,'' Ms. Morgan said. He shot security guard Stan Vance at the gate and then entered the main building, carrying a Chinese-made semi-automatic handgun and a fanny pack around his waist that held seven loaded clips, she said.

He marched through several departments, including human resources, tool and die and quality assurance. The gunman, who is well over 6 feet tall, shot at people he thought had wronged him or simply fired his gun at random, witnesses said.

Sheryl Wood, 27; Charles Griffeth, 56; David Moore, 30; and Leonard Filyaw were killed. Mr. Vance, John Mucha and Jerry Corley were wounded.

Defense attorneys offered no witnesses in the trial phase. They never claimed their client was innocent.

But in closing arguments, Mr. Harlow cited testimony his client put a gun to the head of one woman but didn't shoot.

``The notion that Mr. Wise was going on a shooting spree to kill as many people as he could - that's not true,'' Mr. Harlow said. ``What was his intent? What was in his heart? Was it a black heart? That is something that you all will have to decide.''

The defense mounted an effort in closing remarks for a not guilty verdict on the burglary charge. Both attorneys argued that Mr. Wise had been invited back to the plant to retrieve his personal belongings after being fired.

``That's almost like inviting someone to dinner and then charging them with burglary when they come,'' Mr. Grant said.

But the jury returned a guilty verdict on all charges - four counts of murder, three counts of assault with intent to kill, four counts of possession of a gun while committing a violent crime and burglary.

Monday's witnesses included Dr. Inez Yacoub, a forensic pathologist who conducted autopsies on the four workers. She said each died after bullets pierced major organs.

Jurors also were shown crime-scene photos, including a few with faraway shots of the deceased workers and pools of blood. Agent Kerri McClary with the State Law Enforcement Division testified that she found 123 live cartridges in Mr. Wise's fanny pack.

The defense challenged Agent McClary on the preservation of the evidence, but she had a quick response.

``This is not what we would consider a whodunit crime scene,'' she said.

Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (803) 648-1395 or greg.rickabaugh@augustachronicle.com.

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