Fatal shooting ends in acquittal

When the dust settled at the intersection of Standland Road and Kynesville Highway, a young mother lay dead in the street, shot through the heart.
Her boyfriend nearby gurgled through his own blood, perhaps attempting to call for help after the bullet that pierced his skull partially paralyzed him.
Clinton Shirah and his wife said the sound of gun shots outside their home woke them from their sleep early that morning Sept. 11, 2008.
It was Shirah who first set eyes on the scene, after telling his wife to stay in the safety of their home.
Outside, he heard Kaylinda Wilkerson, now 17, screaming.
“She was yelling ‘They shot my mom,” Shirah told a reporter as he watched Florida Department of Law Enforcement sweep the scene.
Bullets collected at the scene played a role in the murder trial of the state vs. Paul Eric Fuder.
He was acquitted Thursday of one count of first degree murder in the death of Belinda Marshall; and two counts of attempted murder for the injuries suffered by Marshall’s boyfriend Richard Jeffries and Fuder’s younger brother, Kevin Ryan Fuder.
Represented by Public Defender John Young Roberts, Paul Fuder, 31, claimed self defense.

‘Everybody freaked out’

The chaos began at Midget’s Bar, “a butt-kicking country bar,” as described by Assistant State Attorney Stan Peacock, near U.S. Highway 231 on Sept. 10, 2008.
Paul and Kevin Fuder were playing pool and drinking, as were Marshall, Wilkerson, Jeffries and several others. They and others became involved in a bar brawl.
The groups parted ways, but then met up again to exchange items, such as a cell phone, that were dropped during the scuffle.
“For him fearing for his life and that big old bar fight, he did not have one drop of blood or broken skin. They talked about it in the trial,” Marhsall’s sister Shana Kent said.
The Fuders and the other group met up at the intersection on Kynesville Road, when, by all accounts, the situation took a severe turn.
Paul and Kevin Fuder claimed Kevin was shot in the arm by someone as he approached the GMC Marshall and Jeffries were in.
As he turned to look back at his brother, he was shot again in the chest, Kevin said.
In a panic, Paul Fuder got out of the vehicle and returned fire, Paul said.
Kevin Fuder was shot several times in the hail of bullets, then retreated, bleeding profusely, to the car.
The Fuders weren’t the only ones to leave the scene.
Wilkerson and her boyfriend Phillip Patterson, then 23,  used the GMC to ram the Fuder’s Mercury and attempt to chase them down.
“As much as I hate to say this, everybody freaked out,” said Shana Kent, Belinda Marshall’s sister.
Back at the scene, another witness told Shirah that Patterson said he had to leave because he was a convicted felon and didn’t want to be caught at the scene. It was confirmed during the trial that Patterson is a convicted felon, as is Jeffries.
Missing evidence

There were 12 bullet holes found at the scene.
Paul Fuder, however, claimed to have used a 9 mm with a 10-round clip, meaning he wouldn’t have had more than 11 bullets to use.
It was the twelfth bullet hole that the defense focused on.  Kevin Fuder’s first two shots,  which came from in front of him, combined with an extra unexplained bullet hole, must have meant there was another gun involved, the defense claimed.
The prosecution said Fuder must have had a 17-round clip, which would have accounted for the extra bullet hole; but no such clip was ever recovered.
Paul Fuder’s gun was recovered down the road, where he’d thrown it from his vehicle as he drove his brother to Jackson Hospital. Fuder left his brother there and headed for the woods.
Bullets recovered by hospital staff from Fuder’s body matched his brother’s gun.
Some bullets, however, where never collected, making it impossible to know whether the remaining bullets belonged to Fuder’s gun or someone else’s.
The lost bullets were a fumble by Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Peacock explained, where Kevin Fuder was transferred for further treatment.
For unknown reasons, the Tallahassee hospital didn’t hold on to the bullets they recovered, even though it is standard practice, Peacock said.
Meanwhile, the GMC Patterson used to drive away from the scene was abandoned at a church on a rural road.
Any evidence left in the truck could have been removed or corrupted between the days when it was abandoned to when it was located by authorities.

Motive

Peacock accused Paul Fuder of bringing a gun to a fist fight in a drunken rage.
He had “a reckless regard for human life”  that resulted in the critical injury of his own brother, Peacock said.
Roberts asked the jury to consider what motive, other than defending himself, Fuder could have had for the shootings.
Roberts said Fuder isn’t a violent person. In fact, he said, Fuder was carrying a knife in his pocket during the bar fight, and never took it out to use it.
Additionally, Roberts said, Fuder had a lot to lose.
He’s a trained correctional officer and was the supervisor of a construction crew.
Peacock said Fuder used his corrections experience in his attempt to get away with the shootings.
It took two rounds of canine teams to catch Fuder in the woods, where he was eventually located and arrested.
He had changed out of his cream-colored shirt into a black shirt, Peacock said, to help him blend into surroundings.
Fuder also removed the battery from his phone, Peacock said, so his position couldn’t be traced.
Fuder claimed he’d panicked.
Roberts asked the jury if there was a definition of how one should have reacted in such a situation.

Aftermath

It took the jury 45 minutes to reach a verdict.
Paul Fuder was a free man, able to return home to his young children and significant other.
His family said justice was upheld.
Kevin Fuder is still recovering from his wounds, having been shot in both arms, in his neck, shoulder, in his abdomen, and twice in his chest.
Jeffries is in a wheelchair, partially paralyzed.
“He was so full of life before this happened,” Kent, Marshall’s sister, said. 
Marshall’s family continues to mourn, she said.
“We’ll never be the same,” Kent said. “Belinda was a very outgoing girl. She loved life. We miss her very much.”
She said Marshall’s daughter Kaylinda and her 9-year-old son now live out of town with their fathers.