Turnbaugh innocent
Jury’s verdict comes after five-hour deliberation
By Robin Palmer
Times Argus Staff - Wednesday, April 7, 2004

BARRE — After over five hours of deliberation Tuesday, Jurors delivered an innocent verdict in the first-degree murder case against Isaac Turnbaugh, filling the courtroom in Vermont District Court in Bane with tears of joy and sorrow.

Turnbaugh was accused of killing his American Flatbread co-worker Declan Lyons, 24, of Montpelier on April 12, 2002.

On Tuesday evening, a panel of 12 jurors found Turnbaugh innocent of first-degree and an alternate, lesser charge of second-degree murder as shrieking cries of “there is a God” erupted from his family, as they hugged one another and the defense attorneys, red-faced with relief and wailing with happiness.

“I just thank God,” said lone Johnson, Turnbaugh’s grandmother from Michigan. “I’m so thankful. He’s such a good boy.”

Turnbaugh told television cameras he was “going fishing” with his father.

“The truth shall set you free, that’s all I have to say,” said Turnbaugh, who was anxious to return to his Moretown home for the first time in nearly two years.

Turnbaugh also spoke of suing the state. But Turnbaugh’s mother Kathy Turnbaugh said the family would consult its attorneys on whether to file a civil suit against the state for legal expenses and Turnbaugh’s lengthy incarceration.

“We’re just really happy and just so thankful to Kurt, Frank and Susan (Turnbaugh’s defense attorneys and investigator),” Kathy Turnbaugh said, calling the lawyers now part of the Turnbaugh family. “He’s been just such an incredible pleasure to work with over the last two years,” Hughes said.

He also praised the jury’s work.

“It’s been a long two years. We’re extremely grateful to the jury and the work they put in,” Hughes said. “We’re just ecstatic and so grateful.”

The assistant attorneys general prosecuting the case asked that the jury be polled after the innocent verdict was read. Each juror repeated the words “not guilty” to the two charges of first- and second-degree murder.

Victim Declan Lyons’ family, some of whom cried during the reading, was ushered quickly out of the room without comment.

All three prosecutors who worked on the case and the two-week trial also said “no comment.”

Linda Brennan, a friend of the Turnbaughs who sat through much of the trial, expressed sorrow for Lyons’ family.

“Scary thing is the killer’s still out there and the Lyons have no closure,” Brennan said.

Hughes said that has been a concern throughout the two years Turnbaugh has been incarcerated. “Who knows what happened here. Nobody knows what happened,” Hughes said. As for Turnbaugh, he still suffers mental health issues widely discussed during the trial.

“They’ve (the family has) been working on aftercare with the hospital,” Hughes said. “He’ll have a lot of help maintaining his mental health.”

The case against Turnbaugh had stretched on for nearly three weeks, considering three days of jury draw, 11 days of testimony, weekend breaks and Tuesday’s closing arguments and deliberations.

Deliberations lasted until 8:10 p.m. Tuesday in Vermont District Court in Barre. Jurors were given the case at 2:45 p.m.

Jurors broke two times Tuesday afternoon and evening, once at 5 p.m. to ask if they could visit the scene, a request the judge denied because evidence in the case is now closed, and once to ask if they could review grand jury testimony.

Grand jury testimony was not entered into evidence in the form of exhibits. Judge Patricia Zimmerman told jurors they would have to make specific requests in order to hear portions of the very lengthy testimony. Jurors also wanted permission to use the phone to call home.

Then shortly before 6 p.m., jurors announced to the waiting judge, attorneys and family members of both Turnbaugh and Lyons that they would deliberate until 8 p.m., and if they had not reached a decision, reconvene today.

The 8:10 p.m. verdict came as a bit of a surprise. Waiting attorneys, family members and media rushed to the courtroom.

The deliberations followed closing arguments earlier in the day.

Jurors heard from Assistant Attorney General Cindy Maguire and defense attorney Kurt Hughes, along with hearing lengthy instructions from the judge, before being handed the case.

Maguire laid out what the state believed to be Turnbaugh’s movements on April 12, 2002, the day Lyons was shot and killed while stirring sauce in an outdoor cauldron at his place of employment, American Flatbread in Waitsfield.

Maguire called the state’s evidence against Turnbaugh “overwhelming,” called the investigation by police into Lyons’ murder “extensive,” and asked jurors to consider the credibility of some witnesses, namely Turnbaugh’s friends and family, who, she said, “changed or massaged their testimony.”

“The evidence of guilt I will submit to you is not only beyond a reasonable doubt, it’s overwhelming,” said Maguire. “We will ask you to return a verdict of guilty.”

In the defense closing argument, Hughes called Maguire’s tale “all speculation and it doesn’t add up.”

“The actions of Isaac Turnbaugh on April 12, 2002, are not consistent with guilt,” Hughes said. “If Isaac Turnbaugh had been planning to murder Declan Lyons for no apparent reason, he would not have gone to his father and asked permission to use the very gun (the state said) he was going to use to kill Declan Lyons.”

Turnbaugh also would not have appeared in front of friends with the gun on the evening before the day of Lyons’ death, and he again insisted that autopsy evidence refuted the state’s contention that it was Turnbaugh’s weapon that killed Lyons.

Hughes spoke for about an hour. Maguire stood before jurors for two hours and then rebutted Hughes’ closing for another 20 minutes.

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