Gerri Faye, Jessica and Mackenzie Butts, murdered on Jan. 27, 1992 in Atlanta, Texas, are buried in Welcome Cemetery in Taylor, Ark.

From Sonny Long's book, "Among Murderers and Madness."

As I watched the video along with the rest of the crowd in the courtroom, I also watched the Butts family.

Lanette, the mother and grandmother of the victims, stood and watched the tape, her hands in a vice-like grip with the hands of a friend. Brian also stood where he could see, the arm of a friend around him. His face was stoic, eyes fixed on the television screen.

Terry and Jason, Gerri Faye's two younger brothers, didn't watch. At one point, Jason left the room. Some friends of the family also couldn't watch and turned away.

Some cried.

Other than the voices of Mulder and Dupree, silence enveloped the courtroom. Lanette moaned as the camera passed across a family photo on the wall. When the camera came to Jessica on the bed, Brian spat out, "Son of a -----!" Someone else muttered, "Damn him!"

Those who could see Kevin's face later told me that he watched emotionlessly. Chewing gum, he sat with the ankle of his left leg crossed over his right knee.

__________________________

Defense attorney Mulder turned Police Chief Scott back over to Birmingham. Now maybe the DA would wrap it up strongly for the prosecution, I thought. The crowd in the courtroom, and it was crowded each day of the hearing, seemed to be leaning forward on its seats as what would be the last testimony in the hearing began.

Again, Birmingham reviewed the evidence with Scott.

"Chief, I need to ask. In this case, to connect the defendant with the crime, we have four hairs. The head hair on the comforter, a pubic hair on the child's foot, and two pubic hairs on the bed. We also have a partial fragment of a palm print that - and you know from fingerprints yourself - and Mr. Eubanks was the expert that testified that he can't tell when the palm print was put there."

"Yes sir."

"And there is no way to tell unless someone saw it placed there."

"Yes sir."

For the first time in the hearing, Birmingham's voice gained volume and range.

"Is that all we have Chief, is that hair and palm print?"

"Yes sir."

"Chief, we have discussed this before on the night of the arrest, but in the name of all justice, Chief, is there any way that a man should be put to death on that evidence? To be tried for his life on that evidence? I'm on the wrong side, Chief, but I can't help it!"

Another audible gasp rose from the audience, this one louder with a few "s---s" thrown in.

Birmingham continued, "If that's all we have, can a man be tried before a jury where he can be condemned to death or to serve the rest of his life in a penitentiary because of four hairs and a palm print that may or may not even be connected to the crime?"

Scott's face had gone pale. He stared ahead blankly, refusing to respond to the DA's ambush.

"No further questions," Birmingham said anti-climatically.

Advocate reporter Sonny Long has written "Among Murderers and Madness," the true story of a triple homicide in East Texas on Jan. 27, 1992. Excerpts from the book will appear in the Advocate during the week leading up to the anniversary of the murders.