UPDATE: Accused killer testifies in capital murder case

Updated 1:02 p.m.

Dennis Lee Daniel testified Friday that he killed Courtney Marie Servais on Dec. 19.

He said that he snapped after she mentioned his son’s name. Courtney had an affair with Daniel’s son.

Daniel said he beat her at a trailer he was staying at with his girlfriend. He then took her to the Red Oak Hollow area, where they both got out of the car.

Courtney ran back to the car and cranked it, Daniel said.

He snapped again.

Daniel said he ripped out the passenger side window, and Servais got out of the car.

“She was laying on the ground,“ Daniel said. “It pushed me back over the edge. I don’t know what I hit her with. I hit her twice with something.“

“Do you know why you killed Courtney?“ defense attorney Steven Milani asked Daniel.

“There’s no excuse,“ Daniel said. “I didn’t mean to kill her. I had no plans to kill her. It’s senseless.“

Earlier:

CHATHAM — Dennis Lee Daniel’s attorneys asked Judge Charles Strauss to throw out the capital murder and robbery charges their client faces after the prosecution finished presenting its evidence Thursday.

To be convicted of capital murder in Virginia, the prosecution must prove that a first-degree murder occurred in the commission of another serious felony, in this case, robbery.

In his opening statement, attorney Steven Milani said that a murder occurred, but a robbery hadn’t. The defense has focused on that issue throughout the trial.

Roger Dalton, another attorney for Daniel, said Thursday that the crime does not qualify as capital murder because the first-degree murder and robbery are not closely related in a “causal connection,” which means that the robbery was not the motive for the killing. Dalton cited language in Virginia Supreme Court opinions on similar cases.

He also said the evidence has not established that Daniel took anything from Courtney Marie Servais.

“This case is somewhat different,” Dalton said. “The defense suggests that the evidence of robbery is lacking.”

Pittsylvania County Commonwealth’s Attorney David Grimes cited previous testimony from Servais’ babysitter, who said she saw Servais wearing five rings and a necklace on the day she met Daniel and went missing. Investigators did not find any of the jewelry on Servais or in Daniel’s possession.

Daniel did take her car, Grimes said, and investigators found Servais’ clothes in it, according to testimony Thursday.

Grimes also cited a recorded phone call between Servais and Daniel. During the call, which was played in court Wednesday, they both learned that neither of them had been faithful to the other.

Servais told Daniel that she slept with his adult son, and Daniel responded that he would hurt and ruin Servais.

“The defendant set out that day to take everything she had,” Grimes said. “To do it slowly, to take it painfully.”

The autopsy

Dr. Paul Benson, an assistant chief medical examiner in Roanoke, testified about the autopsy he performed on Servais.

Benson determined two possible causes of death: blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. He added that the beating to Servais’ head would have killed her in minutes.

The injuries to Servais’ head had linear patterns to them, Benson said, suggesting that someone hit her with the same instrument over and over. In opening statements, defense attorney Milani said that Daniel smashed Servais’ face with a piece of wood he found nearby.

Servais also had bruised hands and wrists, which show that she was restrained.

“And the person struggled against that restraint,” Benson said.

He testified that he found bruises all over Servais’ body and found parallel lines across her neck.

“That would be consistent with a cord or wire,” Benson said.

Crescent-shaped marks near the parallel lines show that Servais tried to pry the cord or wire off her neck, he said. Her fingernails made the marks as they dug into her skin.

Investigators who testified earlier said they found an extension cord at the first crime scene, the doublewide trailer in Halifax County. A forensic scientist testified Thursday that the cord had Servais’ blood on it.

‘I deserve it’

Grimes played a July 24 taped interview between Investigator Jimmy Clay and Daniel in Blue Ridge Correctional Facility. By then, Daniel had seen the evidence against him, including crime scene pictures. The defendant asked Clay to visit him in prison.

In the recording, Daniel says he killed Servais.

“I want the death penalty,” Daniel said. “I deserve it.”

He asked Clay if investigators moved the body before they took pictures.

“Did you see the body?” he said. “What I saw in the pictures was not the way it was when I left. I need you to find what position the body was in.”

“What you’re saying is that’s not the position you left her,” Clay said.

“No,” Daniel replied.

“But you’re not denying the fact that you did commit the murder?” Clay said.

“Oh, most definitely.”

Daniel said he didn’t remember other details about Dec. 19, the day Servais disappeared, but he kept bringing up her body’s position when police found her.

“I remember what happened,” Daniel said in the recording. “If you tell me the position the body was in, I’ll tell you from start to end.”