Double Jeopardy
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To fellow coworkers, Isaac Turnbaugh and Declan Lyons (the latter a soon-to-be dad) seemed to be friends. That’s why in 2002, when waitresses at the Vermont eatery where the duo worked found Lyons dead outside the restaurant with a gunshot wound to the head, no one initially considered Turnbaugh as a possible perpetrator.
A month into the case, police had no leads — until Turnbaugh inadvertently gave them one. While getting high at a campfire with six friends, Turnbaugh told them he’d shot Lyons. Though Turnbaugh’s other assertions — such as the “fact” that he was a terrorist involved with 9/11 — cast doubt upon the veracity of his remarks on Lyons, one witness told Lyons’ mother, who allegedly contacted the police.
Law enforcement arrested Turnbaugh, but could not establish a motive or prove that his rifle was the murder weapon. After the arrest, a doctor diagnosed Turnbaugh as mentally ill, and the case didn’t go to court for another two years.
When the trial finally took place, Turnbaugh’s lawyer told the jury that if they couldn’t believe the accused was involved in 9/11, then they couldn’t believe he killed Declan Lyons, either. The jury chose to believe Turnbaugh’s attorney, and the court released Turnbaugh to the Vermont State Hospital for further evaluation.
In July of 2011, Turnbaugh again confessed to killing Lyons, and said he wanted to surrender himself to the police. But here, the double jeopardy clause came into effect, preventing Turnbaugh from going to trial for the same crime twice.
“You only get one bite of the apple. It’s double jeopardy,” said Attorney General William Sorrell. “You can go out on the courthouse steps and confess, and the state can’t do anything.”
