Adam Norcross

Case overview

Adam W. Norcross (born 07/25/1970) was convicted of Murder 1st and was sentenced to death on October 3, 2001. Norcross and co-defendant Ralph E. Swan broke into Kenneth Warren’s home and shot him to death on November 4, 1996.

Timeline

• 11/04/1996 — Norcross and Ralph E. Swan broke into the Warren home in Kenton, Delaware and shot Kenneth Warren to death.
• 10/03/2001 — After considering the jury recommendation, the trial judge sentenced Swan to death.
• 02/09/2000 — Police arrested Norcross.
• 02/10/2000 — Norcross gave a statement.

The offence

Shortly after 8 p.m. on November 4, 1996, the Warren family settled in for the night in their Kenton, Delaware home. Kenneth Warren was sitting at the kitchen bar eating a sandwich while his wife, Tina, and their 19-month-old son, Dustin, were sitting on the family room couch watching television. Tina’s mother Lillian had just left after babysitting Dustin while Tina attended an aerobics class.

Suddenly, two armed, masked men dressed in camouflage burst through the glass patio doors leading to the family room. They ran into Kenneth and a struggle ensued. The intruders shot Kenneth four times, killing him, while his wife and son watched. The intruders grabbed Tina’s purse from the kitchen counter and fled.

Tina Warren observed that both assailants carried handguns. One handgun appeared to be bronze or copper colored. One assailant appeared to have been shot in the left shoulder. Ballistics evidence indicated Kenneth Warren had been shot four times with two different types of handguns: a semi-automatic and a revolver. Kenneth was shot twice in the back; once on the left side of his head behind the left ear; and once through the top of his head. The fourth bullet, fired from a gun barrel held tightly against the top of his head, traveled through the skull down into the back of his neck, killing him instantly.

Examination of three bullets removed from Kenneth Warren’s body revealed that the two back wounds had been made by a .357 caliber copper/nickel jacketed bullets manufactured by the Winchester Western Corporation under the “Silver Tip” trademark and had been fired from a revolver manufactured by either Smith & Wesson, Ruger, or Taurus. A 10 mm/.40 S & W caliber triple copper jacketed bullet fired from a 10mm semi-automatic gun made by Smith & Wesson or Irwindale caused the fatal wound.

Tina’s credit cards and checkbook were found in late November 1996 behind the rear fence of the Eastern Shore Concrete Company in Middletown, Delaware. Police searched the area and discovered her pocketbook fifteen feet away from the fence and her telephone calling card just inside the fence.

Investigation

Swan and Norcross both worked at the Eastern Shore Concrete Company at the time of the murder. On October 20, 1996, about a month before the murder, Norcross’ former roommate reported the theft of two handguns from his residence: a .357 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and a .40 caliber black Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun.

During the fall of 1996, another concrete plant employee named Matthew Howell took work breaks with Swan and Norcross. Howell later testified that a few weeks before the murder, Norcross asked whether Howell wanted to join Norcross and Swan in a robbery. Howell declined. About a week later, Norcross told Howell that he drove a red sports car to a person’s house on a dark road and fired a shot at a glass patio door around the back of the house. Norcross told Howell that he wore camouflage clothing and a mask that covered everything but his eyes.

Howell’s testimony described what happened when Norcross entered the house: a man came up to him and fell to his knees, grabbing hold of Norcross. Norcross put the gun to the side of the man’s head and pulled the trigger and the man “fell like a bag of potatoes.” Norcross told Howell that Swan was hit in the shoulder either by the homeowner or crossfire. Norcross told Howell that he had earlier robbed an armory in Middletown and stole fatigues and ration packs.

Norcross also told Howell that he grabbed a pocketbook from this house and threw it in the woods behind the concrete plant. Norcross allegedly disposed of what appeared to be a checkbook by dropping it into a concrete product that was being poured. He also told Howell that he threw the guns into the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and burned the clothing in a barrel. Norcross told Howell all this because he claimed not to trust Swan and wanted someone to know what happened. Howell did not report this information to police because Norcross threatened to kill Howell. Howell testified that Norcross told him this information a day after the incident.

Background and related testimony

In December of 1996, Howell, Swan, and Norcross were laid off from the concrete plant.

Norcross dated Gina Ruberto during his employment at the concrete plant. Ruberto observed Norcross with a black handgun that had to be clicked back to operate and testified that she saw a big green duffel bag in Norcross’ bedroom. Ruberto testified that Norcross was upset one night and showed her a newspaper article about a murder and robbery. Ruberto testified that Norcross started crying and told her about breaking into the back of a home occupied by a man and his wife while wearing camouflage clothing. Norcross told Ruberto that he took a pocketbook and disposed of it behind a fence at the concrete plant, threw the weapon in the water, and burned the clothing in the green duffel bag.

Two weeks later, Ruberto saw Swan’s left arm in a sling. A few months later, she saw Swan without a shirt and noticed a purplish bruise or scar on his shoulder. She asked Swan about the scar and Swan stated that he hurt his shoulder while boxing.

In 1997, Norcross worked as a farmhand near Chesapeake City, Maryland. He married Bridget Phillips in April. In June or July of that year, Norcross invited Swan to work at the farm, and Swan moved into the same house with the couple. Phillips overheard a loud conversation between Norcross and Swan in which they laughed about an incident where Swan had been shot. Norcross told Phillips that he and Swan had planned to “rob” an empty home but found it occupied. Norcross told Phillips that the victim fired a shot and died because he “tried to play hero.”

Phillips later saw Swan without his shirt and observed a scar on his left shoulder. Norcross pointed to the scar and said it resulted from a gunshot. Swan responded by sticking his finger in the scar and saying, “Yes, and the bullet is still in there.” Norcross told Phillips that they would never be caught because they had worn masks.

Norcross and Phillips separated in December 1997, and Phillips contacted the Delaware State Police two years later.

Arrest and statements

The police arrested Norcross on February 9, 2000, and he gave a statement the following day. Norcross admitted that he was present during the incident but claimed that Swan killed Warren. Norcross stated that Swan started shooting but that Norcross’ gun would not fire. Norcross claimed that Swan grabbed Norcross’ gun, cleared it, and then used it to shoot Warren in the head.

Norcross further claimed that after the two men started running to Swan’s car, Swan told Norcross that Swan wanted to go back and kill Tina because Tina was a witness. Norcross stopped Swan by shooting Swan in the shoulder. The two men, both employed at the Eastern Shore Concrete Company in Middletown, disposed of Tina’s purse and their weapons the next day.

Prison communications

On a morning scheduled for preliminary hearings, Swan and Norcross were in separate holding cells in the Kent County courthouse when correctional officers intercepted a note Swan had dictated to an inmate. In the note, Swan warned Norcross not to trust or talk to Norcross’ attorney and gave his grandmother’s telephone number as a means of communicating with Norcross. Swan further warned Norcross, “Don't say anything or if you did, say you lied.” Swan also told another inmate that Swan had nothing to worry about as long as Norcross kept his mouth shut.

Evidence about the assailants

Warren’s mother testified that she noticed a red car parked nearby when she left shortly before the murder. Several witnesses testified that Swan owned a red Dodge Daytona at the time of the murder and later painted the car blue/black in April 1997.

Additional testimony revealed that Swan was placed on restricted duty at the concrete plant due to a shoulder injury and that Swan had a scar on his left shoulder consistent with a gunshot wound. Swan was a martial arts boxer and presented an alibi defense that Swan had sparred with a professional boxer named Michael Stewart from October 1996 through November or early December 1996.

Swan also presented evidence that the scar on Swan’s shoulder could not have resulted from a gunshot wound and that Swan showed no signs of injury when Swan participated in a February 8, 1997 kickboxing tournament.

Norcross testified that the trial judge John E. Babiarz Jr. described Norcross and Swan as “like jackals lurking at a water hole.” Norcross said he was short of money on Nov. 4, 1996, and borrowed Swan’s car with the intent to drive to the Clayton-area home of Norcross’ grandfather, whose name Norcross could not immediately recall, and steal antique guns to sell later. Norcross testified that the plan was thwarted when he and Wayne encountered a woman at the residence.

Norcross testified that the two, lost on west Kent County back roads, eventually chose the Warren home for a random break-in. Norcross testified that once inside the house, he attacked Warren, who was seated at a table and eating a sandwich. Norcross testified that he knocked the victim off his chair and, with Warren’s wife and child crying out loud, shot Warren in the head during a struggle on the floor.

At Norcross’ 2001 trial, there was testimony that several shots were fired, including one that pierced Warren’s skull from point-blank range, but investigators never figured out which man fired the fatal shot. Norcross attempted to discount police statements and court testimony in which witnesses, including Norcross’ estranged wife Bridget Phillips, said they had heard Norcross talk of teaming up with Swan for the break-in and slaying.

Trial

Swan’s trial for Murder First Degree and related charges began on June 5, 2001. The jury found Swan guilty of all charges.

At the penalty hearing following the conviction for Murder First, the jury voted seven to five that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances. On October 3, 2001, after considering the jury recommendation, the trial judge sentenced Swan to death. Norcross and Swan were sentenced to death in October 2001.

The trial judge who sentenced Swan to death was John E. Babiarz Jr.

Aftermath and post-conviction matters

Ralph E. “Randy” Swan was not present the night Kenneth Warren, a Kenton cattle breeder, was killed in a 1996 home invasion. A man sentenced to death along with Swan testified during a hearing on Swan’s motion for a new trial.

During that hearing, Norcross said that a “drug buddy” he knew only as “Wayne” was the second of two men who blasted their way into Warren’s home and shot him to death as Warren’s wife and his 19-month-old son looked on. Norcross said Wayne blasted out a glass back door of Warren’s home. Norcross said Wayne was shot in the upper torso after the two men went into the house and scuffled with Warren.

Norcross said he later granted a request to put his companion out of his misery. Norcross said, “There was no way I could get him to the hospital,” and he said of Wayne, “He said, 'You've got to stop the pain, man.' I couldn't get him to a hospital, and he was going to die anyway. So I put a bullet in his head.”

Norcross said a letter he mailed to the judge and lawyers in the case last February prompted the Kent County Superior Court hearing before Babiarz. In the letter, Norcross introduced Wayne as the second of two men who killed Warren. The letter described Warren as the nephew of state Sen. Nancy Cook, D-Kenton. Norcross said, “I had to straighten it out because it was weighing on me.”

During cross-examination, Deputy Attorney General Robert J. O'Neill suggested that Norcross’ newly acquired pangs of conscience may have been inspired by interaction with Swan. O'Neill asked: “Aren't you just substituting Wayne for Swan?” O'Neill asked it drawing a negative response from Norcross.

Norcross acknowledged that he and Swan lived on the same death row tier at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna and acknowledged that he would probably get a sound whipping in a fight between the two men.

Babiarz took the testimony under advisement, noting he would issue a ruling after studying the hearing transcript and reviewing motions on evidentiary issues from the prosecution and Swan’s lawyer, Christopher Tease.

Norcross filed another motion for a new trial, accusing Norcross’ trial lawyers, assistant public defenders Lloyd Schmid and Paul Swierzbinski, of ineffective counsel. Norcross’ appeal attorneys, Joseph A. Gabay and Jennifer-Kate Aaronson, were present during the hearing to make sure that Norcross did not undermine attorney-client privilege or otherwise hurt Norcross’ own case while on the stand.

Other details

Norcross’ estranged wife, Bridget Phillips, testified that she overheard Norcross explaining their plan and that Norcross told her they had worn masks and would never be caught.

An empty purse was found later behind the concrete plant.

O'Neill said that “if there was a Wayne, his body apparently was never found.”