Sunday, March 25, 2001
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Sunday, March 25, 2001 |
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Hodge gets life plus 25 in SUV murder By JOHN MUNFORD
Judge Christopher Edwards Friday sentenced Karl Bryan Hodge to life plus 25 years for the murder of New York drug dealer Adolf Stubbs. Stubbs' body was found in a burning sport utility vehicle in a new subdivision in Fayette County March 31, 1999. He had been shot in the back of the head, witnesses said. A second suspect in the case, Glen Simon Hamilton, is expected to be tried in April. Hodge was sentenced to life in prison on the murder charge, five years on a charge of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and ten years each on charges of arson and concealing the death of another, all the sentences to be served consecutively. The jury in the case deliberated for about ten hours Thursday afternoon and Friday morning before rendering guilty verdicts on all charges shortly after 11 a.m. Friday. Following the sentencing, Mike Martin, Hodge's attorney, asked Edwards to relieve him from representing Hodge in his appeal, and a second attorney for Hodge suggested that new attorneys be appointed in case there is a need to claim incompetency in the appeal. Edwards gave Hodge the option of taking on that question Friday or setting a future hearing on the matter, and Hodge chose the future hearing. Hodge, who one witness identified as the triggerman in the shooting, did not testify on his behalf. Instead, his attorney, told the jury that not only were the witnesses lying, but they were covering up for another guilty party, who witnesses referred to as "The juvenile". All of the witnesses who mentioned "the juvenile" were unable to identify his real name. Witnesses in the case said that Stubbs was in Atlanta to handle a drug deal, and had planned to steal the 300 pounds of marijuana rather than paying for it, but Hodge and accomplices turned the tables and stole the drugs from Stubbs, took him for a ride and killed him. Paul Hylton, who testified for the prosecution, sobbed Wednesday as he gently described how his friend Stubbs was executed with a shot to the back of the head by Hodge. Hylton said he was friends with Stubbs from their days back in Jamaica. He appeared ashamed when he admitted that he was paid $40,000 for the sale of some marijuana before he fled to Jamaica several weeks after the killing. Hylton also admitted that he never notified police about the killing.
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