Joan & Elizabeth Shannon

Timeline

• July 23, 2002 — Elizabeth Shannon shot and killed her father, Army Maj. David Shannon, in the early morning hours.
• July 23, 2002 — Officers responded to a 911 call at 3:07 a.m. reporting that the husband had been shot.
• August 3, 2002 — Elizabeth Shannon was charged with murder in the shooting death of her father.
• June 2004 — Elizabeth Shannon pleaded guilty to the murder.
• June 11, 2004 — Elizabeth Shannon pleaded guilty to murdering her stepfather.
• August 29, 2005 — Closing arguments were presented in Joan Shannon’s murder trial.
• August 31, 2005 — Joan Shannon was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
• September 2005 — Joan Shannon was found guilty in connection with the murder of her husband.
• April 3, 2007 — The Court of Appeals of North Carolina decided an appeal by Joan Shannon.

Background

Joan Myrtle Shannon lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina with her husband, David Shannon, and with Daisy Shannon and Elizabeth Shannon, who were her biological daughters. David Shannon served in the United States Military. Defendant and Shannon were members of the “Fayetteville Gang Bangers,” described as a “swingers” club. Jeffrey Wilson testified that Joan and David Shannon contacted him online through the internet in November or December 2001 and that Shannon asked Wilson if he wanted to have sex with Joan. Wilson testified that Shannon told him about the “Fayetteville Gang Bangers” and encouraged him to add his name to their e-mail list to receive party notifications.

Wilson testified that over the course of the next three months, he went to “Fayetteville Gang Bangers” parties and attended a “Fayetteville Gang Bangers” party in February 2002 hosted at a motel in adjoining rooms, including a “meet and greet” room and a “party” room where people engaged in sexual activities. Wilson testified that defendant and another woman approached him and indicated they wanted to engage in sexual relations; Wilson testified that defendant and the other woman performed oral sex on Wilson, that Wilson then had vaginal sex with defendant while defendant performed oral sex on another man, and that around March 2002 Wilson went to a party hosted by Tony Bennett where defendant undressed while Shannon took photographs, with Wilson and two other men taking turns having vaginal and oral sex with defendant while Shannon photographed them. Wilson testified that Shannon then had sex with defendant while Wilson photographed them.

Wilson testified that defendant asked him how he felt about “seeing her on a regular basis,” asked him if it would be a problem with Shannon, and was acceptable with Shannon as long as it was not “serious.” Wilson testified that his relationship with defendant became more personal and that they began to appear in public together. Wilson testified that defendant told him she “loved” him and could see herself being with him.

Elizabeth Shannon testified that in April 2002 she heard Joan talking on the telephone with Wilson; during the conversation Joan stated, “[Shannon] rides on planes all the time. Why can't one of his planes just go down?” Elizabeth also testified that Joan attempted to poison Shannon several times in late April and early May of 2002. Elizabeth further testified that Joan once asked Daisy if she knew where she could acquire the “date rape drug” to administer to Shannon.

David Shannon had over $700,000.00 in life insurance and Joan was the named beneficiary on his policies. Because Shannon was on active military duty, Joan would be entitled to monthly military benefits for herself and their minor children if Shannon died.

Elizabeth testified that Joan asked her if she knew “anybody that would be able to shoot [Shannon].” Joan said she wanted to be with Wilson and could not afford to leave Shannon. Elizabeth told Joan she would talk to her friend, Anthony Jones (Jones), about obtaining a gun. When Jones refused to help, Elizabeth contacted Donald White (White) and asked him if he would kill Shannon for money; White refused. Elizabeth testified that when she could not find anyone to kill Shannon, Joan began pressuring Elizabeth to do it herself.

Elizabeth testified that shortly before Shannon’s murder, Joan showed her a gun belonging to Shannon, loaded it, instructed Elizabeth on how it worked, and put the loaded gun, bullets, and surgical gloves in a drawer in Elizabeth’s room.

Vera Thompson, Elizabeth’s friend, was staying at the Shannon home the night of the killing.

The offence

Killing of Army Maj. David Shannon

In the early morning hours of July 23, 2002, Elizabeth shot and killed her father, Army Maj. David Shannon, in the bedroom he shared with Joan.

Elizabeth testified that after putting on surgical gloves and sweat clothes over a layer of clothes, she went into the bedroom Shannon shared with Joan, and that Joan had instructed her to do these things. Elizabeth testified that Shannon and Joan were lying on the bed. Elizabeth shot Shannon in the head, and after Shannon began breathing erratically, Elizabeth shot him in the chest. After the second shot, Joan crawled to the end of the bed and grabbed the cordless phone. Elizabeth and Thompson disposed of the gun at Joan’s request.

Elizabeth testified that after the killing, Joan stated, “I need to think of something to cry about.” Elizabeth testified that she heard Joan crying on the phone and stating, “someone has broke[n] into the house and shot my husband.”

In an account of the response to the incident, Officer Faneal Godbold of the Fayetteville Police Department responded to a 911 call at 3:07 a.m. on 23 July 2002 from a female who reported that her husband had been shot. Upon Godbold’s arrival, Joan was crying. Joan stated that “her husband had been shot” and that she did not know who did it.

When Godbold and Sergeant Oates entered the house, officers found two sleeping boys in one bedroom and Elizabeth and Thompson awake, listening to music. Shannon was discovered in the master bedroom lying naked on the bed with a sheet pulled midway up. He had bullet wounds to his forehead and chest, and there were large quantities of blood including blood splatter and brain matter on the bedroom wall. Three firearms were recovered from the master bedroom, but none of those firearms was the murder weapon. Sexually-oriented videotapes and magazines, sexual devices, lubricants, and condoms were also recovered from the house. The cause of death was close-range gunshot wounds to his head and chest.

Joan Shannon’s role as alleged

Joan Shannon was accused of planning her husband’s death and persuading her 15-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Shannon, to kill him.

Prosecutors said Joan and David Shannon were swingers who met sexual partners online, and that Joan persuaded her daughter to kill David Shannon. Prosecutors believed Joan wanted David Shannon dead so she could collect insurance money and run away to be with her boyfriend, Wilson. Prosecutors said that in the days leading up to David Shannon’s death Joan was “constantly barraging” Elizabeth Shannon, “telling her, harassing her to kill her father,” and prosecutors also characterized Joan as “the worst mother you could ever imagine.”

Investigation

Investigators were searching for the teenage girl after Shannon was killed on July 23. Police said Shannon was killed for insurance money. Police said they got a tip and went to the mobile home park about 1 p.m. Eldridge was sleeping in a back bedroom and the officer ordered her to get up, put her in handcuffs, and yanked her out of the room after hearing a noise come from a folded-out futon in the living room. The officers lifted up the couch, saw Elizabeth hiding under it, and placed her in handcuffs.

Elizabeth Shannon’s arrest was described as occurring after she was found hiding under a couch in the Sunset Mobile Home Park at Aldridge Park. Miranda Eldridge lived in the mobile home where Elizabeth Shannon was arrested. Police would not divulge the name of the person arrested because the suspect was under 16, but Eldridge identified her as Elizabeth Shannon. Eldridge said Elizabeth had been brought to the house on Wednesday by a friend and that Elizabeth said she didn’t have a place to stay and that her parents were out of town. Eldridge said she lent Elizabeth clothes. Eldridge said Elizabeth was wearing a T-shirt and jeans when she arrived and that it “looked like she hadn’t changed in a while.” Eldridge said Elizabeth spent most of her time on the couch watching TV and watching out the window and that she never went out. Eldridge said when someone knocked on the door, Elizabeth would jump, and that Elizabeth constantly watched the news.

Eldridge said Elizabeth paid close attention to TV news about the murder of David Shannon. Eldridge said, “They were like her morning cartoons. I just thought she was interested in what was happening in Fayetteville.”

During the immediate police response, officers discovered Shannon with bullet wounds to his forehead and chest, and recovered materials from the Shannons’ home including sexually-oriented videotapes and magazines, sexual devices, lubricants, and condoms.

Arrest

Elizabeth Shannon, described as 15 at the time of the offence, was charged with murder in the shooting death of her father. She was found hiding under a couch in the Sunset Mobile Home Park at Aldridge Park. Eldridge identified her as Elizabeth Shannon, and police did not publicly divulge the name because the suspect was under 16.

A separate report described that in summer 2002 Army Maj. David Shannon was shot to death while he slept, that Joan Shannon blamed intruders, and that a few days later officers arrested Elizabeth instead.

Trial

Charges and convictions

Joan Shannon faced charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and accessory after-the-fact. She was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact to murder.

The trial court arrested judgment on the offense of accessory after the fact to murder.

Jurors deliberated for more than nine hours Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, jurors told Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin that they could not reach a verdict. Hardin told jurors it was their duty to keep working on the verdict and that they should try their hardest to reconcile their differences without giving up what they believed to be the truth.

On Tuesday, jurors asked to see photographic evidence in the case, as well as transcripts from some of the witnesses who testified at trial. The judge granted the request to see the photos but denied the request to review the transcripts. Hardin planned to ask the prison system to house Joan Shannon and her daughter separately.

Closing arguments and witness testimony

Prosecutors and defense attorneys presented closing arguments Monday in the trial. Defense attorney Paul Herzog addressed the jury for more than an hour Monday morning and focused on credibility of the prosecution’s four witnesses, including Elizabeth Shannon. Herzog argued Elizabeth acted alone and that she was a drug user involved with gangs and had a history of violence. Herzog said Joan Shannon was a victim of a lying daughter and asked jurors to remember when Elizabeth took the witness stand, telling them to ask themselves, “Did you see a child crying, upset, sorry for what she had done, or did you see this hardened adult who did not even bat an eye?”

The prosecution argued that Joan Shannon wanted her husband dead so she could collect insurance money and run away to be with Wilson. Prosecutors said that in the days leading up to the death Joan was “constantly barraging” Elizabeth Shannon, “telling her, harassing her to kill her father,” and prosecutors also described Joan as “the worst mother you could ever imagine.” If convicted, Joan Shannon could be sentenced to life in prison.

During testimony, Jeffrey Wilson described the couple as having a swinging lifestyle and testified that he slept with Joan Shannon after Maj. Shannon came up with the idea. Wilson testified that he took photos of him and Joan Shannon together and that the Shannons thought nothing of it. Wilson said, “She had other partners,” and “As long as it wasn't serious, (her husband) didn't mind.” Wilson also said he believed Joan Shannon was falling in love with him, and he testified that when Maj. Shannon died, Joan Shannon was not upset. Wilson suggested he was with Joan Shannon for money to buy a motorcycle and stated, “I'd tell her what she wanted to hear to get what's at the end of the rainbow -- her to co-sign for my motorcycle.” Investigators said Joan planned her husband’s death and convinced her teenage daughter, Elizabeth, to shoot him.

In a statement attributed to prosecutor Billy West, after the verdict was read, West said, “We were hoping that it would go our way,” and also said, “We were confident that it would go our way and we were satisfied with that.”

Joan Shannon did not testify in her own defense. Her family said it was “right at the time.” She also had a chance to address the court but chose not to do so.

Evidence regarding “swinger” lifestyle

On appeal, Joan Shannon argued that the trial court erred by admitting three sexually suggestive photographs of her. The photographs were described as:

• State’s Exhibit 124: Joan wearing a piece of red lingerie pulled up to reveal portions of her lower body, shown lying next to Wilson with both of Wilson’s hands near the vicinity of her left leg.
• State’s Exhibit 125: Joan nude having vaginal sex with another individual while she performed fellatio on Wilson.
• State’s Exhibit 126: Joan wearing a black garter belt and stockings having vaginal sex with Wilson while holding another man’s penis in her left hand.

The appellate decision concluded the trial court did not err by admitting the photographs over objection, stating they helped support the State’s contention regarding motive and the chain of events leading up to the murder, and corroborated Wilson’s sexual relationship with Joan.

Joan also argued plain error based on admission of evidence of her sexual activities, pornographic and sex related items, and testimony about the “Fayetteville Gang Bangers.” The appellate decision concluded that because she failed to object, review was for plain error and it concluded the evidence admission did not constitute error so fundamental as to result in a miscarriage of justice or denial of a fair trial.

Sentencing

Joan Shannon was sentenced to life in prison without parole on August 31, 2005 for murder plus at least 13 years for conspiracy. She was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact to murder, with judgment arrested on the accessory after the fact conviction.

Elizabeth Shannon was described as pleading guilty and being sentenced to 25 to 31 years in prison, with a maximum of 31 years. Elizabeth pleaded guilty in June 2004 to second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against her mother and received a prison term described as 25 to 31 years. Another account described that for pleading guilty Elizabeth would spend 25 years in prison and agreed to testify against her mother in her case that had not yet gone to trial.

After sentencing, Elizabeth was reported to be at the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, and Joan was reported to be at the Southern Correctional Institution in Troy.

In September 2005, Joan Shannon was described as found guilty in September 2005 of murdering her husband, Army Maj. David Shannon, in 2002.

Appeals

Joan Shannon appealed judgments entered upon her convictions for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. The Court of Appeals of North Carolina concluded that the trial court did not err by admitting evidence related to Joan Shannon’s “swinger” lifestyle.

The Court of Appeals also addressed an issue of first impression concerning N.C. Gen.Stat. § 15A-903(a)(1)(2005) and required prosecutors to disclose, in written or recorded form, statements made to them by witnesses during pretrial interviews. The appellate decision reviewed a discovery ruling involving pretrial interviews the prosecutor’s office had with Daisy Shannon and other witnesses. It described that the trial court judge did not require the prosecutor to reduce the substance of the interview(s) to writing, and the Court of Appeals stated it did not have such notes in the record.

The Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court erred by misapprehending the application of the amended version of N.C. Gen.Stat. § 15A-903(a)(1) when ruling on the discovery motion and treated the defendant’s assertions as a motion for appropriate relief, remanding for an evidentiary hearing.

The appellate decision stated:

• “No error in judgment; motion for appropriate relief remanded.”
• Judge LEVINSON wrote the opinion, Judge HUNTER concurred, and Judge McCULLOUGH dissented.

Dissenting opinion details

Judge McCULLOUGH dissented from the remand for an evidentiary hearing. The dissent stated that the discovery statute at issue broadened the defendant’s right to have all of witness statements made to an investigator, whether or not adopted by the witness, and that the statute mandated making complete files of law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies available.

The dissent quoted the statute: “The State is not required to disclose written materials drafted by the prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting attorney's legal staff for their own use at trial, including witness examinations, voir dire questions, opening statements, and closing arguments.” The dissent stated the prosecutor had said he would provide exculpatory material if it existed, but he made notes to assist questioning, and that the majority’s view could require the prosecutor to record witness responses or prepare a written summary for production to the defense.

The dissent stated: “To follow the majority's logic, when a prosecutor meets with a witness and asks the witness questions, prepares the witness, and records his intended questions for that witness, he or she must simultaneously prepare a written or tape-recorded copy of the witness's responses for production to the defense.” The dissent concluded: “Thus, I dissent.”

The appellate materials included a quoted statement from the prosecutor to the trial court about his interview with Daisy Shannon: “I was particular to write down all the things she said the defendant said, and I may have written down some of my impressions about what she told me, but I didn't have any notes․ [A]s for talking with [Daisy] and taking notes of everything she said, I didn't do that.”

Outcome

Joan Shannon was convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder, and the trial court arrested judgment on accessory after-the-fact to murder. The Court of Appeals found no error in judgment and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on prejudice related to statutory discovery.

Elizabeth Shannon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 to 31 years in prison in exchange for testifying against her mother.

Other details

Joan Shannon stared into space as the verdict was read; her family cried and dropped their heads.

In connection with sentencing and family reactions, it was reported that David Shannon’s late husband’s family members supported Joan Shannon believing Elizabeth Shannon acted alone. Virginia Schanz, Joan Shannon’s sister-in-law, said, “Elizabeth is a very vindictive, evil child,” and that she had been “evil” since she first met Elizabeth.

In connection with the trial, the appellate record described that Elizabeth Shannon testified that Joan asked about acquiring a “date rape drug” and that Joan attempted to poison Shannon several times in late April and early May of 2002.

Jeffrey Wilson testified in the appellate record that in February 2002 defendant and Shannon attended a party at a motel in adjoining rooms, with “meet and greet” and “party” rooms, and that in March 2002 at a party hosted by Tony Bennett defendant undressed while Shannon took photographs. Wilson testified that defendant and Shannon contacted him online in November or December 2001 and corresponded for three months.

The appellate record stated that a jury convicted Joan Shannon of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, and accessory after the fact to murder, and that the trial court arrested judgment on the accessory after the fact to murder offence.