Savell v. State

928 So. 2d 961, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 367, 2006 WL 1229290
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 9, 2006
DocketNo. 2004-KA-01953-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 928 So. 2d 961 (Savell v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Savell v. State, 928 So. 2d 961, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 367, 2006 WL 1229290 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

ISHEE, J.,

for the Court.

"¶ 1. William Dewayne Saveli was convicted of the murder of'Mandy Davis in the Circuit Court of Neshoba County and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Mississippi Department of Corrections (“MDOC”). Aggrieved by his sentence and conviction, Saveli now appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Davis was last seen on Wednesday, September 10, 2003, visiting Saveli’s trailer after having dropped her car off at Saveli’s automobile repair shop (located next to his trailer) to be fixed. Davis had been acquainted with Saveli for a number of years, and she visited him regularly. Patsy Pope, Saveli’s mistress through whom he fathered a child, testified that she saw Davis at Saveli’s trailer at approximately 6:30 p.m. on September 10, 2003. Davis’s mother testified that Davis did not come home on the night of September 10, 2003. On Thursday, September 11, 2003, Davis did not show up at work at the school where she taught as a substitute. On the evening of Thursday, September 11, 2003, Saveli called Davis’s home and said that her automobile was ready to be picked up. When Davis’s mother arrived at Saveli’s automobile repair shop, Saveli told her that Davis had been there on Wednesday and left with someone else, who he did not see. On Saturday, September 13, 2003, Davis’s mother phoned the Philadelphia Police Department and reported Davis missing.

¶ 3. Also on September 13, 2003, after officers learned that Davis had last been seen with Saveli, Captain Dickie Sistrunk of the Philadelphia Police Department called Saveli and asked him to come to the police station to answer some questions concerning Davis. Saveli testified at the suppression hearing that when Sistrunk called him, he was told to “come to the police department or either they would pick [him] up.” Saveli arrived in his own vehicle. Saveli was not under arrest nor even a suspect at this time, and officers did not yet know for sure that a crime had been committed. When .Saveli first arrived, he went to the office of a police investigator, Jimmy Reid, to answer questions concerning Davis. Saveli asked to use the restroom, at which point Reid showed him the restroom and left Saveli alone. Saveli testified at the suppression hearing that when he returned from the restroom, he walked back into Reid’s office and was there for two or three minutes before Reid returned.

¶ 4. Saveli told Reid that Davis had been at his trailer on September 10, 2003 getting her automobile fixed, that she had narcotics1 in her possession, and that she had left with someone else who he did not see. He additionally told Reid that he was awakened that night by a “popping sound,” [965]*965and that he went outside and saw that his truck was on fire.2 At the time .of the interview with Reid, Saveli was wearing a splint on his hand. He stated that he had injured it breaking his truck window to get wrecker keys from inside. Reid then thanked Saveli for coming in, and Saveli left in his own vehicle. Saveli was at the police station for approximately thirty-five to forty-five minutes.

¶ 5. Police visited Saveli’s property on Sunday, September 14, 2003, and looked around with Saveli’s consent, but found nothing helpful in locating Davis. On Monday, September 15, 2003, police began looking around on the property of Ted and Patty Pope, where Saveli was known to regularly hunt. On the first trip to the Pope property, police found nothing of interest.

¶ 6. On Tuesday, September 16, 2003, police interviewed Saveli again. At this time, though Saveli was not under arrest, he was advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, after which Saveli signed, dated, timed and acknowledged a waiver of those rights. At this interview, Saveli again mentioned the narcotics Davis allegedly brought to his trailer on September 10, 2003. Saveli mentioned, in connection with the burning of his truck, a person named “Iceman” that he “used to run dope for.” An officer testifying at trial stated that Saveli “was very inconsistent” in this interview and “would say one thing, but ... a sentence or two later ... contradict what he said.” Saveli said in this interview that he suspected that “Iceman” picked Davis up from his trailer on September 10, 2003, though he did not see him. After the interview, Saveli drove himself home.

¶ 7. Later in the afternoon on September 16, 2003, police received a call from Patty Pope saying Saveli had called her that day saying he had been attacked. Police arriving at the scene noted that Saveli was bleeding from both his eye and from his rib cage area. He told police that Iceman had hit him in the eye with a two-by-four and kicked him while he was on the ground. At a police interview the next day, September 17, 2003, Saveli, after again waiving his Miranda rights, stated that he was wearing his glasses when Iceman hit him, but when police questioned as to how he got hit in the eye with a two-by-four without breaking his glasses, Saveli got angry. Saveli stated that he owed Iceman money from when he ran dope for him five years previously, but Saveli could not explain why Iceman waited until five years later to attack him. Police also asked him during this interview, “if you were in our shoes, where would you look [for Davis?],” and Saveli gave them three locations: “off highway 16 up past the casino,” “old Longino Road,” and on the Pope property.

¶ 8. Also on September 17, 2003, Patty Pope went to Saveli’s property to bring him food, and noticed Saveli in a truck on top of a hill. She drove up and noticed “a bunch of blood on the ground.” She stated that Saveli told her he had taken some pills and cut his wrist. He also had a gun to his forehead. Patty stated that, when [966]*966she examined the cut, she noticed that it “was not really cut for the amount of blood that — that I noticed was everywhere.” Patty stated that eventually Saveli calmed down and went back to the trailer.

¶ 9. On September 18, 2003, police again went to search the Pope property, this time with the aid of a helicopter. An officer spotted something red in a pond on the property, and when investigators retrieved it, they found that it was a red fireman’s bag with black handles, partially unzipped. Through the partially unzipped opening, officers saw what appeared to be human remains. Upon opening the bag, police found two severed arms, a severed head, and a severed leg, along with blue plastic material, a glove and several bricks. The crime lab experts later determined the limbs and head to belong to Davis. Davis’s torso, with one leg attached, was found on September 19, 2003, in a nearby creek, partially burned, with nine stab wounds to the left chest area. A glove matching the one found in the red fireman’s bag was found in the area near the torso. Crime lab experts determined Davis’s cause of death to be the nine stab wounds to the chest.

¶ 10. After the bag was found, charges were filed against Saveli. When police went to arrest him, Saveli would not come out of his trailer. Members of the SWAT team arrived, forced entry to the trailer, and arrested Saveli. It was later discovered that the red bag belonged to Ted Pope and was kept in his GMC truck. Saveli had borrowed Ted Pope’s truck on Sunday, September 14, 2003, after his truck burned. Saveli’s truck was not returned until a week after the body was found, and the bag was not in the truck when it was returned. Further searches of the Pope property led officers to a brick pile, where shoe prints were observed.

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Related

William Dewayne Savell v. State of Mississippi
188 So. 3d 1220 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)
Savell v. State
78 So. 3d 376 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
928 So. 2d 961, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 367, 2006 WL 1229290, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/savell-v-state-missctapp-2006.