Traven Bussell

Mr. Palmer, Instructor

Criminal Justice

May 11, 2017

United States vs. Timothy Bailey Hennis

​
 So, today I will be doing the Innocent Victims case for my case report. Personally I have

my own theories as to what happened during this case that I will share during the case report.

This case was made into both a book and a movie, both of which were quite well made for local

North Carolina productions. This case was between the United States of America and Timothy

Hennis, an United States Army Master Sergeant for the rape and murder of Kathryn Eastburn

and two of her daughters. Timothy Hennis has been tried for this crime not once, but three times

over a course of two decades. He has even been pulled back into the United States army to be

tried through a harsher court martial as he keeps coming up not guilty. I will state my opinions

throughout this report.

May 1985, a horrific crime had occurred in the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina. A

mother was raped and two of her children and stabbed to death. In the resulting manhunt, police

discover their first and only witness, Patrick Cone. Cone described a man which all leads pointed

towards Timothy Hennis, a 27-year old Sergeant in the United States Army, stationed at the

nearby Fort Bragg. Hennis was taken in for questioning and immediately incarcerated. For the

next two decades a debate over the innocence of Tim Hennis would rattle America. Now keep in

mind that this was a local trial that spiraled into chaos through the astonishing lawyers hired for

both the defense and the prosecution.

The United States vs. Hennis case occurred not once but three times in the recent

two decades. The first case, the second, and a court marshal… all of which were prosecuted for

the same crime directly violating the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution/ Bill of

Rights. Yet, apparently this did not interfere with any of these trials. The first trial resulted in Mr
Timothy Hennis’ conviction and his place on death row in the state of North Carolina. His

lawyers appealed, and the result of the second trial was not guilty as the evidence was too vague.

The court martial found Mr. Hennis guilty of triple murder. The only reason that Timothy Hennis

could be put on trial once again was due to his career in the United States Army. The army law

system is different, they have their own police (Military Police) , and they have their own

prisons; the United States Disciplinary Barracks (U.S.D.B).

In May, 1985, Kathryn, Kara, and Erin Eastburn were found stabbed to death in their

home at Fayetteville North Carolina. The only survivor of the viscous attack: 22 month old Jana

Eastburn, whom was left for three days near death in her crib until hear by neighbors. Several

items were stolen according to Mr. Eastburn; cash, a ATM card, and the password to their

account. This information was used by the prosecution to show that Hennis used the card to pay

off debt; which he paid off several days after the murders. There was a witness who claimed she

seen someone who looked similar to Hennis using an ATM prior to her. This evidence was

satisfactory to prosecute Hennis. It is worthy to point out that the Fayetteville Police were

pressed into finding the killer as the media and public demanded results. Thus results were given

even if it was not certain to be accurate.

The other witness that the police had gained was the sole piece of evidence that the police

had going for them, Patrick Cone. The witness claimed that he saw a man walk down the street

late the night of the morning of which matched the description of Timothy Hennis. The DNA

technology that law enforcement agencies had at the time in the late 1980s early 1990s was

pitiful compared to today's technology. If such technology was readily available then perhaps the

case would have been quick and decisive. But no, they had blood samples, along with bloody
boot prints inside of the murder scene. The police found out that Kathryn Eastburn had her dog

on an ad listing it, and that Timothy Hennis was the man who had taken her dog. With this

knowledge, the police arrested Timothy Hennis, and he was almost immediately charged with

the murder of the Eastburn family.

Now there was some similarities with other murder cases which may have led the police

to push for a quick arrest to cease the backlash from the media. After all, three people were

brutally murdered. This is a key factor, as the media played a huge role in this case (and many

others like it). (This is not a proper paragraph but is only here to push a point about the case.)

The police had several pieces of evidence and some stolen objects from which to put a

face to the murdered. First off, there was a struggle in the living room of the Eastburns’ house. In

said livingroom, several pieces of Kathryn Eastburn's clothing were found, of which included her

bra and shoes. The shoes still had their laces tied and was a point of interest to the police.

Kathryn Eastburn's teller machine card was also missing along with a small amount of money

with the pin to the card. Boot Prints were also found through the house. Another piece of

evidence was that Timothy Hennis was seen burning something in his backyard the Saturday

after the murders. A vastly important piece of evidence the police were relying on was the ad

Kathryn Eastburn had for her dog. Of which Timothy Hennis was the man to respond to said ad

just the Tuesday prior to the murders that Thursday. The biggest thing going for the police was

the witness, Mr. Cone. The description Mr. Cone gave showed Timothy Hennis almost perfectly.

But as a whole the police had little, if any physical evidence to the case.

After taking Timothy Hennis in for questioning, the police took several different samples

(hair, pubic hair, blood, etc). They also had Mr. Cone pick out a car that he recognized, of which
he chose Timothy Hennis’ car. The police saw this as too much evidence against Mr Hennis and

proceeded to arrest him. They found that he had no defense against the accused crime. Despite

the prosecutor himself claiming that the arrest was too premature and that he did not have

enough evidence against Timothy Hennis to have a valid argument against him. The police

proceeded with the arrest, a count of rape and three counts of homicide (murder).

As Timothy Hennis was charged with a count of rape and three counts of homicide, he

was to be denied bail as the crime was too severe. He was to be put to death should he be found

no guilty. Public opinion was heavily against Timothy Hennis, most of the population believed

that he was guilty; as he had no real defense. The prosecution claimed that Timothy Hennis’

motive for the crime was sex. That Kathryn Eastburn refused to have sex with him. Then

violence broke out, something happened that resulted in Kathryn's’ death. Timothy would have

been worried, so he then proceeded to murder the witnesses; the two oldest Eastburn daughters.

“Sex is its’ own motive” after all. Timothy Hennis’ defense was comprised of Gerald Beaver and

Billy Richardson of Beaver Courie Attorneys at Law. The defense team was denied an open file

and to enter the crime scene. Clearly after all of these facts, the defense was at a obvious

disadvantage.

During the investigation with Timothy Hennis, another ‘witness’ came to the police,

Timothy Hennis’ ex girlfriend. She claimed that Tim was with her that night, and left around

9:30 PM, the murders occurred about an hour after that. This is very important, as that meant that

Timothy Hennis lied to the police about being alone the night of the murders. She also said that

Tim and her did NOT have sex that night. Which allowed the prosecution to push that TImothy

Hennis was sexually disappointed and went to the Eastburn house to find a woman (his wife was
on a trip the night of the murders.). This provided a motive to the prosecution for the murders.

Yet there was still no physical evidence found linking Timothy Hennis to the crime.

The Eastburn family had a babysitter that they frequently hired, she was a friend of Mrs.

Eastburn. She reported that she was followed by a blue van the Monday after the murders. While

questioning neighbors of the Eastburns, the defense found that the white car supposedly seen by

Mr. Cone, was not seen by other neighbors, but a blue van was. This linked two peoples stories

together and gave the defense somewhat of a story to convince the jury that Timothy Hennis was

not at the scene of the crime. While questioning the only witness the prosecution was relying on,

the defense found out that Mr. Cone was unsure if he truly choose the right person in his lineup.

Which made him an unreliable witness. Then he proceeded to retract his statement of seeing

Timothy Hennis that night. This means the prosecution had no case left. With this Timothy

Hennis was granted bail.

While interviewing other ‘witnesses’ to the night of the crime. It was found out that a

man who matched the description of Timothy Hennis was walking at night the night of the

murders. And the same man several months after the murders, while Timothy Hennis was in jail!

Again while interviewing yet another person, who was delivering mail the night of the murders,

she claimed she saw a van parked near the Eastburn home. Which makes it the third time a van

has been seen by different people. Timothy Hennis did not have a van, he owned a white car. Of

which Mr. Cone claimed he saw, but since he retracted his statement, he is void. The defense

went for a dismissal with Mr. Cones’ retraction. Which was denied as Mr. Cone confirmed that

he SAW Timothy Hennis.

 ( For the trial, I will skim through it, key details as I could rant on about the trial and take

quite a few pages.) During the trial, the woman who claimed she saw no one at the teller machine

when she was there, she said she saw Timothy Hennis. Also, Mr. Cone said he as well saw

Hennis leaving the Eastburn driveway at 3:30 A.M. the night of the murders. The prosecution

revealed that they had in their possession the United States Army Crime Prevention Checklist, of

which the defense had been searching for. And refrained from showing the defense. As well the

prosecution made several lead questions to the witnesses. The first trial ended with Timothy

Bailey Hennis being found guilty of triple murder and rape. Sentenced to death.

Despite these setbacks,the defense was not finished. Due to the prosecution showing

disturbing pictures and playing with emotions (As two young children were murdered) as well as

the being no physical evidence linking Hennis to the crime, in total 59 trial errors were found.

The defense decided to appeal and they were granted. Hennis spent 845 days on death row prior

to the new trial. The lookalike was found to be a man named Catalodo; which provided to ruin

the evidence the Mr. Cone provided for the prosecution. A mailman said that he saw a white car

that fit the description of Timothy Hennis’ car. But it was not parked with Hennis as Hennis was

at his house as the mailman saw the car near the Eastburn house. An independent crime lab

found that no fingerprints or sperm matched Timothy Hennis. While the footprints were all

smaller than Hennis’ foot. Mr. Cone was found to have several charges against him at the time of

the first trial. Which was believed to be pushed off by the prosecution if he testified for the

prosecution's behalf.

During the trial the defense discredited several of the key witnesses whose testifications

were going for the prosecution. This included Mr. Cone which crushed the entire prosecution's
argument over the murder. The defense brought up several new witnesses that helped to prove

Hennis’s innocence. The jury of the second trial found Timothy Hennis not guilty of the crime.

In conclusion, the Timothy Bailee Hennis case was a long drawn out and poorly held

case. As the defense stated “The case was based on speculation upon speculation.” I feel this

case was an example of how some errors can become extreme within our law system. Twenty

years after the second trial, Hennis would be put under court martial for the crime making him

the first person to be put under double jeopardy. And that is the Timothy Bailey Hennis vs. North

Carolina case.
The Letter sent to Tim Hennis while in jail.

Bibliography:

Innocent victims movie: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGIC5_jFhzQ

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/18/us/death-row-stories-hennis/

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/timothy-hennis-guilty-1985-triple-murder-trial/story?id=11652956