Robert Edward Maury

Case details

Robert Edward Maury was sentenced to death on October 27, 1989.

Timeline

• October 27, 1989 — In Shasta County, Robert Edward Maury was sentenced to death for the murders of Averill Weeden, Belinda Jo Stark and Dawn Berryhill between 1985 and 1987.
• April 25, 2003 — The state Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for a Redding man who sought to collect rewards from the sponsors of a tipster hotline for calling in the locations of three bodies over a two-year period and was later charged with killing the victims himself.
• 2003 — The high court rejected Maury’s claim that the police violated his Fourth Amendment rights by taping some of his calls to Secret Witness without obtaining a warrant.
• 2003 — The case was People v. Maury, 03 S.O.S. 2072.

Background

Robert Edward Maury was referred to as “a Redding man” who sought to collect rewards from the sponsors of a tipster hotline for calling in the locations of three bodies over a two-year period and was later charged with killing the victims himself.

Justice Ming Chin wrote for a unanimous court.

The offence

Robert Edward Maury was sentenced to death for the murders of Averill Weeden, Belinda Jo Stark and Dawn Berryhill between 1985 and 1987.

The high court said there was plenty of circumstantial evidence to prove that Maury committed the murders, in addition to having robbed one victim, attempted to rape another, and forcibly raped another woman.

Maury was convicted by a Shasta Superior Court jury of all of the crimes in a 1989 trial.

The murders were described as involving “strangled women ( Averill Weeden, Dawn Berryhill and Belinda Jo Stark) and collected "secret witness" rewards for directing police to their corpses”.

Investigation

Police said they first focused on Maury after the disappearance of his roommate, Averill Weeden, in 1985.

Police were unable to prove at the time that Maury killed her, or that it was Maury who called in the location of the body to Secret Witness of Shasta County about a month later.

Secret Witness was established by a local civic association and gave rewards for information about local crimes on the recommendation of an advisory board made up of law enforcement officials.

The caller who inquired about a possible reward for information about the Weeden murder never claimed it.

But a Secret Witness employee who took the call testified that the same person called about one of the murders and about several other crimes.

Maury identified himself by name in some of the calls.

Maury was observed by police when he picked up $500 at a designated pickup point as a reward for calling in the location of the body of the third murder victim.

The prosecution case included fingerprint evidence.

Prosecutors included testimony that Maury had bragged about strangling a woman.

A bartender’s identification of Maury placed him in the bar with the third victim, a woman Maury claimed to have never met in his life.

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Maury made numerous inconsistent statements about Weeden’s whereabouts following her disappearance.

Arrest

The material did not describe a specific arrest.

Trial

A Shasta Superior Court jury convicted Maury of all of the crimes in a 1989 trial.

Maury claimed he was innocent.

At the penalty phase, Maury read a statement to jurors telling them that since they felt he was guilty, they should return a death verdict.

Jurors obliged.

Judge William R. Lund denied the automatic motion to modify the sentence and condemned Maury to death.

Appeals

The material described the high court’s review of the convictions and death sentences.

Outcome

The state Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.

The high court rejected Maury’s claim that the police violated his Fourth Amendment rights by taping some of his calls to Secret Witness without obtaining a warrant.

The high court said Secret Witness was maintained by a private association not subject to the Fourth Amendment, and Maury could not have reasonably expected the police to respect his privacy once they were told that a caller to the tip line might be reporting crimes he himself had committed.

Citing testimony from board members, Justice Chin wrote:

“To guarantee anonymity to such a criminal would be contrary to the purpose of the Secret Witness program, i.e., to solve crimes.”

Other details

Michael Newton was listed in the material as “An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans” and “home last updates contact”.

Motive was given as “Sex./CE” and “MOTIVE: Sex.”

Sex./CE mo was described as “Strangled women ( Averill Weeden, Dawn Berryhill and Belinda Jo Stark) and collected "secret witness" rewards for directing police to their corpses”.

Disposition was given as “Condemned, 1989”.

Maury was included in the case listing as People v. Maury, 03 S.O.S. 2072.