Jury Seeks 40 Year Prison Term for Bondsman's Murder

Jury Seeks 40 Year Prison Term for Bondsman's Murder

Bad timing cost James E. Carr seven years of freedom.

A Richmond jury recommended yesterday that Carr serve 40 years in prison for first-degree murder and felonious use of a firearm in the death of bail bondsman James W. Woolfolk III.

Minutes before the jury signaled that it had reached a decision on the sentence in its second day of deliberations, Carr's defense attorney and Richmond prosecutors had reached a plea agreement that would have given him 33 years in prison.

"I really have no reason to accept the plea agreement," Circuit Judge Beverly W. Snukals told the attorneys before calling in the jury to render its verdict.

Snukals will sentence Carr on Nov. 7, but members of Woolfolk's family left court yesterday satisfied with the jury's decision. The jury convicted Carr of first-degree murder on Tuesday.

"Though nothing will bring him back, this sure helps," said Theresa Godbold, niece of the 39-year-old bail bondsman, who was killed March 6 in South Richmond while trying to arrest Carr, 20, for skipping court on a felony drug charge.

James Woolfolk was the first bail bondsman killed in Virginia while on duty in recent memory. He was unarmed when he was shot three times from behind after finding Carr hiding in a bedroom closet at 2313 Joplin Ave.

"I shot him three times in the back. . . . I did a cowardly act," Carr confessed Tuesday evening during testimony on the sentencing.

Prosecutors said Carr had a simple reason for shooting Woolfolk: "He just did not want to go back to jail," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill, who called the shooting "a cold-blooded execution."

Carr's stepfather, Michael Morris, testified that Woolfolk had turned his back and started toward the living room when he was shot. "He said, 'All right, Jimmy, you know what this is. Let's go.'" Woolfolk's mother, Theresa Woolfolk, said the family was satisfied with the recommended sentence. "We hope the best for James Carr and his family," she said.

Defense attorney Dean C. Marcus said Carr had shown remorse from the beginning for killing Woolfolk. "It's been eating him up," Marcus said after the jury rendered its recommendation.

But Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Matthew P. Geary responded, "If Mr. Carr was truly remorseful for what he did, he would have spared his family and the victim's family the agony of trying this case."

Carr still faces charges in Richmond of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, felony drug possession, and failure to appear in court -- the charge that brought Woolfolk to the house where he died. He also faces a charge that he violated his probation on a robbery charge in Henrico County, where he had a suspended sentence of 10 years.

Geary said his office is working with Henrico to revoke the suspension and reinstate the full sentence.

MINDY McCREADY JAIL

MINDY McCREADY JAIL



Country singer Mindy McCready surrenders to authorities tomorrow.

McCready's lawyer cut a deal with the Tennessee Williamson County prosecutor and will serve a 60 day sentence for probation violation.

The sentence stem from her falsifying her community service records while on probation for a 2004 drug charge.

McCready who made headlines over the summer as the under-age lover of baseball player Roger Clemens stated she wants to put this behind her so she can concentrate on her music career.

She's also trying to regain custody of her son Zander.

Mindy had a hit in 1996 with "Guys Do it All The Time."

"Dog" Causing Controversy in Colorado

"Dog" Causing Controversy in Colorado

Family of the fugitive whom Duane “Dog” Chapman is chasing on the Front Range say the famous bounty hunter has repeatedly threatened them during the course of his investigation.

Chapman, however, said he and his posse, featured on the A&E television show “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” have done nothing out of the ordinary.

Tony Padilla, father of Mesa County fugitive Marco Padilla, said Chapman and his crew over the past two weeks have shown up at his Aurora home and threatened him.

“I don’t know what to do,” Padilla said. “I swear to God. This is scary.”

Tony Padilla said Chapman and company threatened him, swore at him and demanded as recently as Monday night that he say where Marco is staying.

“I don’t know where he’s staying,” Padilla said. “I don’t know his phone number. Marco has changed his number.”

Marco Padilla, 32, is wanted on a $150,000 failure-to-appear warrant after he failed to show up for sentencing in a 2007 drug case in Mesa County.

Chapman and his crew, according to a police report filed Tuesday, also have harassed Elizabeth Padilla, Marco’s sister in Aurora. Padilla, according to the report, allowed Chapman, his wife, Beth, and his crew to search her home in August. Their interactions took a turn for the worse, the report said, when Chapman and his wife tailed her Sept. 10 after she left a Wal-Mart

Bounty Hunters Dogged By Image of Glamour Job

Bounty Hunters Dogged By Image of Glamour Job

Leather jackets, long hair, a fleet of SUVs and a film crew are not standard gear for local bounty hunters.

But if your name is Duane “Dog” Chapman and you are the star of “Dog the Bounty Hunter” on A&E, then by all means bring the bling and let the cameras roll.

By contrast, local bondsmen — and women — say they try to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Some are upset Chapman has landed in western Colorado, while others are a bit more appreciative, even lending the Dog a helping hand.

“I think he is glamorizing this like it is a fun job,” said Fred Schultz, 51, of AKA Bail Bonds in Rifle. “In all the time I have been bounty hunting and bail bonding, I have had one fight. It wasn’t all this drama. It is like he is the Jerry Springer of bounty hunting.”

Alma Krabbe, 54, owner of Mr. C’s Bail Bonds, said Dog making headlines in the local press is making her life more dangerous.

“It is putting us all at risk because (wanted people) are all in hiding,” Krabbe said. “Now they are just scared, so now we are going to have problems. He is going to come in and do his little thing and just leave, and we are going to be stuck with a big mess. A lot of (local fugitives) are leaving the state because he, the Dog, needs to find them for his show.”

There is some question as to whether Chapman and his posse are still in town, or even in the state.

“To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Chapman left Mesa County shortly after he left the Justice Center (Wednesday),” Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said. “I don’t think Mr. Chapman is here, and I don’t think he is looking for anybody in this county.”

At least two local bounty hunters said they have been in communication with Dog and his associates Friday.

“It is my man that he is looking for,” said Dean Hergenrader, 38, owner of AA Bail Bonds in Montrose and Bail-Ya Bail Bonds in Grand Junction. “He missed court, I’m guessing approximately 100 days ago. I don’t remember the charges.”

Hergenrader said he dropped off paperwork Friday with one of Dog’s associates on his bail jumper, for whom he posted a $40,000-plus bond.

Now Hergenrader is on the hook for that amount. If his insurance company pays off the bond, it could come after him for compensation, he said.

That’s the nature of the beast. Bondsmen can charge customers up to 15 percent of their bond, but to make money, those people have to show up in court. So, to be a successful bondsman, it pays to get as much information on clients as possible before posting bond, said Nancee White, 47, owner of Extreme and Goods Bail Bonds.

“I can usually tell when a person is going to take off just by their handwriting,” she said.

If the people are evasive and offer little personal information on their bond application, that’s a good indication they may jump bail, White said. When that happens, she has a deep-rooted network, like any good bondsman, to ferret out leads on peoples’ whereabouts.

Dog knows this and that’s why he’s been in touch with White, she said.

“I’ve been speaking with Dog. I’ve been on the phone with him all morning,” White said Friday. “He knows he can not infiltrate this area without local help.”

Dog has a standing offer to pick up, for free, anyone a local bondsman is having trouble apprehending, White said.

“My feeling is that they are out of episodes, and that is why they are here,” she said. “Why else would they be out here?”