Victim's ashes bear silent witness as jury convicts on lesser 2nd-degree murder charge
After four days of difficult deliberations, the jury in Michael Lawson's murder trial convicted him Monday of second-degree murder for the 2003 death of Bethany Correira.
After listening to the verdict from his seat in the gallery, Bill Correira touched the worn fabric of a North Face backpack his daughter used to sling over her shoulder, with its patches from Nepal, Tahiti, New Zealand, its Sponge Bob key chain, and the pin of the planet Saturn, encircled in pink rings of ice and dust.
It reminded him of Bethany's adventurousness and humor, he said. And now, in the dry impersonal courtroom, as the judge read the word "guilty" three times, it held her ashes. For much of the trial, the backpack sat in a chair at the prosecution table, a silent accuser.
She would want to be here for all of this, her father said. And, she'd be happy with the verdict.
Jurors also convicted Lawson of being a felon in possession of a gun and tampering with evidence.
In a way, everyone involved has a sentence to serve. For his crime, Lawson, 49, faces a likely lifetime in prison. Having made it through the trial, the Correira family faces a lifetime of missing Bethany and grappling with the question of forgiveness.
Bethany's mother, Linda Correira, said she sees her life differently now. She has more compassion. She understands people who've lost someone more deeply than before. In all the ways her daughter's killing tested her faith in God, the outpouring of support, especially from the people of Talkeetna, renewed it, she said.
"I believe in a big God, and I believe in justice," she said.
She hopes he'll get a sentence that keeps him from hurting anyone else.
Only Lawson knows all that happened that May morning in an apartment in Bootlegger Cove. He managed a complex on M Street, and Bethany had just moved in, coming from Talkeetna to start school at UAA. She took a job as a housekeeper to help pay her rent. Lawson was her boss. On May 3rd, he called her, asking her to meet him in a neighboring vacant unit where he would explain how to show apartments.
After that, facts are few. She may have walked in on him with cocaine, prosecutors said,which he may have been cutting up to distribute. At some point he pulled a gun and shot her in the chest. Some evidence showed that her clothes had been pushed up over her breasts at the time of the shooting, maybe pointing to sexual assault. The night she was killed, the apartment where she'd gone to meet him was set on fire.
Her remains -- just under 50 bone fragments, a polar fleece jacket, a bra -- were found a year later in a gravel pit near Talkeetna. Lawson admitted killing her, but said it was an accident.
Lawson was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, kidnapping, arson, concealing evidence and weapons misconduct. On Friday the jury returned several times with questions, signaling trouble coming to a consensus.
In the end, they told the judge Monday they couldn't agree that Lawson intended to kill Correira, a prerequisite for a first-degree murder verdict, or if he was guilty of kidnapping or arson. However, the second-degree conviction allows Judge John Suddock to sentence Lawson to a prison term up to 99 years if he wishes -- the same as for first-degree.
After Suddock read the verdict, the Correiras left the courtroom, trailed by a pack of reporters and television cameras. They hugged prosecutor Sharon Marshall and Anchorage Police Detective Glen Klinkhart, who helped build the case against Lawson.
After Bethany died, Bill Correira's thoughts were heavy with anger and revenge, he said. But gradually, with the help of his faith, he decided to forgive Lawson. Instead he wanted to focus on the person his daughter was.
"I've arrived at the place where I can say my heart's been healed over what went on," he said.
"I find myself thinking about what a great mom she would have been or giving her away, and there's pleasant thoughts."
Everyone in the family is in a different place, he said. Bethany's siblings sat through pieces of the trial, which had gruesome days filled with theories about how their sister suffered. He hoped each would be able to find peace in his or her own way.
For his part, he prefers to visit the garden planted in her honor near the ball fields in Talkeetna. He'll think of her, he said, as he watches it grow.
Find Julia O'Malley online at adn.com/contact/jomalley or call 257-4591.
Timeline of the Bethany Correira murder
• May 3, 2003: Bethany Correira disappears from Bootlegger Cove apartments.
• May 4, 2003: Fire set at the apartment next to hers.
• May 4, 2004: Correira's body found in Trapper Creek grave.
• Feb. 19, 2004: Federal agents arrest Lawson brothers for fraud.
• May 26, 2004: State charges Michael Lawson with murder.
• March 19, 2006: Robert Lawson commits suicide.
JULY 30: Michael Lawson goes on trial for Correira's murder.
Monday: Jury finds Lawson guilty of second-degree murder, felon in possession of a gun and tampering with evidence.
