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发帖数: 587 | 1 http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/former-youth-pastor-found-1198165.
A former youth pastor received no deliverance from a Cobb County jury who
found him guilty Monday of murdering of two former friends in 2004.
The jury of three women and nine men deliberated for less than an hour
before convicting Joshua Kevin Drucker, 33, of McDonough of two counts of
malice murder and two counts of felony murder in the shootings of David
Andrew Robertson, 40, and Lora Nikolova, 25.
Drucker also was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon and credit card fraud.
Prosecutors said Drucker went to Robertson's house near Marietta on April 5,
2004, under the pretense of visiting him. He chatted with Robertson and
Nikolova, and then shot Robertson when he stood to fetch some marijuana in
the kitchen. Drucker turned the gun on Nikolova after she began hitting him
and screaming, "You killed him!"
Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty in the sentencing phase of the
trial, which begins Tuesday.
Drucker, who at one time served as youth minister at the Global Outreach
Church his father pastored in Stockbridge, showed no emotion at the reading
of the verdict. Returning from a short break afterward, he waved and smiled
broadly toward the emotion-strained faces of his family and friends.
Drucker's father, the Rev. Doug Drucker, was expected to testify because his
son had confessed to him that he had killed someone and the father called
police. The father was never called to testify, but it's still a possibility
in the sentencing phase.
Joshua Drucker answered, "No, sir," when asked by Superior Court Judge
Robert Flournoy if there was anything he wanted to say.
Drucker's attorneys had asked the jury to convict him on the lesser charge
of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Robertson. They sought an acquittal
in the death of Nikolova, which they called an accident.
Nikolova, a student from Bulgaria, fell in love with Robertson, a nightclub
bouncer, after she came to Atlanta on a short-term work visa.
Nikolova's father, who traveled from Bulgaria for the trial, hugged a victim
advocate who sat beside him after hearing the verdict. Both he and his son
later shook the prosecutors' hands.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Ann Harris said in her closing statement
Monday that the case was not a whodunit, but a "whydunit."
In a videotaped statement played during the trial, Drucker indicated to
detectives that he killed Robertson -- a former friend -- for revenge. He
said Robertson had dated his sister, Amanda Drucker, and that Robertson gave
her drugs that she overdosed on. The overdose caused permanent brain damage.
Several witnesses testified that Drucker continued to hang out with
Robertson even after the overdose, which happened 14 months prior to the
slayings.
His defense attorney, Joseph W. Vigneri of the Georgia Capital Defender
Office, explained the relationship between the two men citing the old adage:
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
Drucker and his co-defendant, Melissa McCrayer, allegedly took a wallet,
jewelry and cellphones from Robertson's house after the slaying. Drucker
spent more than $1,500 on drugs, strip clubs, hotel rooms and food before
police caught up to them at a motel less than two days after the killings,
McCrayer testified last week.
McCrayer is out of jail on bond awaiting her trial. She was indicted on the
same charges as Drucker. However, prosecutors are not seeking the death
penalty against her because they said she did not kill the victims. |
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