FAYETTEVILLE — A Washington County jury deliberated for two and a half hours before finding Terry Hayes guilty of threatening his teenage son with a gun and threatening a witness.
Hayes could not be found when the jury returned from sentencing deliberations around 6:30 p.m. Washington County sheriff's deputies and other witnesses said that Hayes was last seen around 6 p.m. outside of the courthouse smoking a cigarette.
The large crowd along nearby Dickson Street attending Fayetteville's Bike, Blues & BBQ rally could give Hayes, who apparently left on foot, somewhere to blend in and find transportation, officials said.
Washington County Circuit Judge William Storey ordered Hayes' $15,000 bond revoked and issued a warrant on new charges of failure to appear. Deputies said they will immediately begin a multiagency effort to arrest Hayes.
Hayes, 40, was convicted of aggravated assault on a family member, terroristic threatening, endangering the welfare of a minor, intimidating a witness and felon in possession of a firearm.
Hayes is accused on Jan. 19 of threatening to kill his son while holding a gun to his head while the two were at Hayes' residence on Black Oak Road outside of Fayetteville. Hayes is accused on June 23 of calling and threatening a witness - his son's mother - the day before the case was set to go to trial.
The jury recommended sentences totaling 55 years in prison and fines totaling $45,000, but formal sentencing has been delayed as a result of Hayes' fleeing. He faced enhanced sentencing because he had more than four prior convictions, including sexual abuse, assault, battery, theft of property, theft by receiving and failure to register as a sex offender.
The jury recommended the maximum sentences - 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines - each on the aggravated assault and terroristic threatening charges. The jury recommended 20 years and the maximum fine of $15,000 on the felon in possession of a firearm charge, which carries a sentencing range of five to 40 years.
After Storey read the guilty verdicts, Hayes turned around several times and glared at his 15-year-old son in a threatening and intimidating manner. After Hayes skipped, deputies were also taking steps to protect witnesses, including his son and the boy's mother, who testified against him.
"I knew he was going to do this," the boy said.
Sheriff's office officials testified during the two-day trial that three witnesses interviewed during the investigation said that they were afraid for their lives if Hayes found out they cooperated in the case.
Two of those - Teresa Coleman, his ex-girlfriend, and Rick Frazier, a former employee - changed their stories on the stand and provided Hayes with an alibi. Deputy Prosecutor Dustin Roberts told jurors these stories were not reasonable or believable. Both witnesses claimed that more than one law enforcement official lied in their reports and on the stand.
The third, Hayes' 15-year-old son, stood by his story that his father held a gun to his head more than once and threatened to kill him while he was on the phone with Coleman. Hayes had made the boy swear on the lives of his family members that he would tell police that Hayes had done nothing wrong, the boy testified.
Hayes and Coleman both took the stand Thursday and testified that Hayes' son had made the whole story up about Hayes pulling a gun and threatening to kill him. Coleman said that her statements to police and during a custody hearing were not true.
She also contradicted earlier statements that Hayes had a rifle and handgun at his home.
Coleman also denied that she had told a sheriff's office detective months before the trial that William "Smoky" Henson, an employee of Hayes' former towing business, planned to testify that he shot a skunk off Hayes' porch to explain why deputies found two shell casing there.
Henson testified Wednesday that sometime between Christmas and New Year's Eve that Coleman called him and asked him to kill a skunk on the property.
The detective testified that she told him Henson was willing to lie for Hayes and even go to prison for him, a claim Coleman also denied on the stand Thursday.
Coleman testified that he got a letter - introduced as a defense exhibit - from Hayes' son saying that he had made the whole story up. A handwriting expert testified that the letter was clearly a fake.
Roberts said that prosecutors will conduct a thorough investigation to determine if perjury charges will be filed as a result of testimony in this case.
News, Pages 1, 6 on 09/25/2009