Jury in Murder Trial Hears Tape of Jailhouse Visit : Courts: Grandmother told Mark Scott Thornton about discovery of nurse’s body. He said: ‘I didn’t do anything.’
On the day that two members of a search team found Westlake nurse Kellie O’Sullivan’s body, Mark Scott Thornton was told of the gruesome discovery during a jailhouse visit by his grandmother--who allowed sheriff’s investigators to monitor the talk.
On Tuesday, an audiotape of that emotional conversation at the Ventura County Jail was played for the jury hearing the 20-year-old defendant’s death-penalty murder trial.
During the visit, Thornton sobbed uncontrollably and spoke of being abandoned by his parents and every girl he had ever seriously dated. He denied killing O’Sullivan, who was shot to death Sept. 14, 1993, at a remote location in the Santa Monica Mountains.
At the time of the jail visit, Thornton was in custody on suspicion of kidnaping one of those girlfriends--16-year-old Stephanie Campbell--but had not been charged with the nurse’s murder.
When his grandmother informed him that a body believed to be O’Sullivan’s had turned up, Thornton first seemed somewhat hopeful. “Oh, my God,†he said. “Thank God they found her.â€
“It doesn’t mean she’s alive, honey,†Lois Thornton said.
Thornton bawled. “Oh, no! Don’t tell me that!â€
“It’s not your fault,†she assured him, but then asked: “Is it?â€
Thornton professed innocence. “I didn’t do anything.â€
Jurors, given transcripts of the conversation, seemed transfixed by the dialogue. They turned the pages of the transcript as if it were a novel.
Playing of the audiotape marked the second time in two days that the jury had heard Thornton deny responsibility for the murder. On Monday, as the trial entered its fifth week, jurors saw a videotape of his first police interview about the case.
The district attorney’s office is seeking to convict Thornton of first-degree murder under a special circumstance--robbery or kidnaping. If prosecutors are successful, the young defendant’s sentence could be death in the gas chamber.
Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case today. The defense has said it will call about 20 witnesses for its case.
Key prosecution evidence has included testimony that Thornton was driving O’Sullivan’s black Ford Explorer after she disappeared and that the defendant was carrying the murder weapon when arrested.
In his conversation with his grandmother, Thornton acknowledged stealing the vehicle but said he never encountered the owner, or he would have run from her. “I don’t even like fighting,†he said.
He needed the truck to get out of town with Campbell, his former girlfriend, he said. “I just wanted to take Stephanie because I loved her. I still love her.â€
Thornton kidnaped Campbell from in front of her home, he acknowledged, but denied firing a shot at her mother. The mother and Campbell testified that he fired the shot.
“I wish I could go back to (Sept.) 14th and not kidnap her or nothing,†Thornton told his grandmother.
“Everybody hates me,†he said.
“No, they don’t hate you,†Lois Thornton told him. “They hate the person that did something to this woman (O’Sullivan). And that’s not Mark.â€
He then expressed hope that she was still alive, before being told of the discovery of the body.
“I’m just scared that everyone’s gonna leave me alone in jail to rot,†Thornton said.
He also said he was bothered by news reports of his arrest. “I’m so scared about the newspaper and everybody,†he said.
“Don’t worry about the newspaper,†his grandmother told him. “The media isn’t God.â€
Thornton said he loved his mother, Markita, and his younger sister, Chantel. But he said he wished that his mother and stepfather had not kicked him out of their home. The grandmother told him that he should have followed their directions, including not spending so much time on the telephone.
“I’ve always felt rejected,†he said.
Thornton also asked his grandmother to explain why he had so many problems keeping a girlfriend.
“How come I always let girls take control over me?â€
“You take it too seriously, sweetheart,†she said.
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