Jury watches videotaped confession in capital murder trial

by Steve W Stewart

KJAS 

Day three of testimony got underway on Wednesday in the capital murder trial of 37 year old Eric Smith who is accused of killing Martin Lynn Byerly on September 28, 2007.

Jasper Police Detective Mike Poindexter was called back to the witness stand as jurors continued to watch a four and a half hour videotaped interview with Smith.

Just minutes before noon, and about two hours into the interview, Smith began to confess to killing Byerly and shared details with Poindexter.

Smith said that after he and Byerly had performed sexual acts on each other in room 4 of the Tri-A-Nite Motel on North Wheeler Street, Byerly tried to attack him with a knife. Smith said that he hit Byerly with a cinder block and knocked him to the floor. When Byerly tried to get up, Smith said he grabbed a screwdriver and stabbed Byerly in the head and side of his chest.

Smith said Byerly went down again and he covered him with blankets. Smith said he did not know if Byerly was dead at that point.

Smith said he then took Byerly's truck and drove down Farm to Market Road 252 and threw out items that were in the motel room, and then went back to the room and loaded Byerly's body into the truck, and then dumped his body at the oil well site off Highway 96 North.

Jurors will view more of the videotaped interview following their lunch break.