After six hours of deliberation held Thursday afternoon and Friday, jurors found William Lowell McCrory guilty of second-degree murder.
McCrory was charged in the stabbing death of Brent “Kerby” Kerr, and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
In Hawai’i, second-degree murder is charged for killings that are pre-mediated or intentional, and first-degree murder is charged for multiple murders, for example, for the killing of a police officer or judge, murder for hire crimes, and other extreme cases.
Testimony in the three-day trial showed that McCrory and Kerr were drinking buddies, but McCrory denied the two were ever acquainted.
The knife determined to have been the weapon used belonged to another drinking buddy of McCrory’s, William “Billy” Pierce, who testified that he saw and heard the stabbing outside Kerr’s van in Nawiliwili in the early morning hours of Oct. 26, 2001.
Kerr’s body was found by a passerby in naupaka bushes facing the Coco Palms Resort during the day of Oct. 26, according to police reports. The body was found near where witnesses saw McCrory’s Bronco parked along Kuhio Hwy., where McCrory and Pierce said the vehicle ran out of gas early in the morning the same day.
Pierce was never arrested or charged in connection with the crime, though he owned the murder weapon and testified that he helped dispose of Kerr’s body and hid the knife from police.
“We didn’t think there was evidence that (Pierce) was in the state of mind to commit murder,” said state prosecuting attorney Michael Soong.
In orange prison garb, but with unshackled wrists and ankles, McCrory seemed to accept that he would be going back to jail. He stood still as the verdict was read at about 2:30 p.m. in Circuit Court, Judge Clifford L. Nakea presiding.
McCrory looked across the room into the jury box and nodded slightly as each juror confirmed to Judge Nakea that “yes,” both separately and as a group they decided McCrory was guilty.
After the proceedings, McCrory was whisked away by sheriffs before Kerby Kerr’s parents or anyone else could address him.
The Kerrs remained in the courthouse for the entire trial and sat in the front row during proceedings. At the close of witness testimony Thursday afternoon, Mrs. Kerr was heard saying “My son was murdered, my son was murdered.” Mr. Kerr had asked to address the jury but was not allowed to do so.
After McCrory was brought back to the Kauai Community Correctional Center on Friday, the Kerrs departed, looking stoic and showing little emotion or body language. Mrs. Kerr pulled tight her overshirt and adjusted her large glasses; Mr. Kerr hung behind for a minute, following his wife down the hall.
McCrory is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, Sept. 19. The Hawaii Paroling Authority will determine in which correctional facility McCrory will be placed.
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
