Husband Admits to Manslaughter, Avoids 3rd Trial

Robert David Hughes, the Thousand Oaks teacher who has maintained he did not murder his wife in Delaware nine years ago, Tuesday pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.

Hughes, whose two previous first-degree murder convictions were overturned by the Delaware Supreme Court, was to have begun a third trial on the same charge next month in Delaware Superior Court.

Hughes, 37, could receive a prison sentence of three to 30 years. The sentence will be decided at a hearing to be held within several weeks. He has already spent 4 1/2 years in a Delaware prison in connection with the two previous trials.

Despite his guilty plea, Hughes’ many supporters, largely members of the Thousand Oaks Lutheran community to which he belongs, said they have not lost the faith in Hughes that led them to raise about $500,000 over the last five years to pay his legal expenses.

“Yes, I do,” Pastor Willis Moerer of Ascension Lutheran Church, where Hughes was a member, said when he was asked if he believed Hughes to be innocent. “I can’t prove it, but it’s a belief I hold,” he said.

Ralph Cameron, a member of a Thousand Oaks support group, said that Hughes, in order to get the plea bargain approved by a judge, was “going to have to lie” and say he killed his wife. “I don’t like it. I think the state has backed him into a corner.”

“This doesn’t in any way make me think he is guilty,” said Lisa Jensen, a Camden, Del., resident who, along with her husband Clyde, have put up part of their home’s value to contribute $60,000 toward Hughes’ bail.

But Delaware Chief Deputy State Atty. Gen. Bart Dalton said he was satisfied that the state had prosecuted the right man.

As required in order to plead guilty, Hughes was asked by Judge Robert C. O’Hara in open court whether he killed Serita Ann Hughes on Aug. 31, 1976, the couple’s eighth wedding anniversary. Hughes swallowed hard, bowed his head, and whispered, “Yes sir,” according to news reports of the hearing.

After Hughes was led from the courtroom, Lucille Bell, Serita’s mother, yelled, “Where was the remorse that he had taken a life? Where was it?,” according to the reports.

Hughes, in a telephone interview from Wilmington, Del., said his claims of innocence made over nine years have not been compromised by his admission in court. “As long as I’m right before God, I really don’t care about men,” he said.

It has been a long journey for Hughes since he discovered his wife’s body outside their Milford, Del., home.

Hughes was first arrested for the crime, but released for lack of evidence. He moved to Thousand Oaks and began teaching at a Lutheran school. In 1979, he was again arrested for the murder and put on trial.

Hughes was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. But, 16 months later, the Delaware Supreme Court overturned the conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct during the trial. Hughes returned to Thousand Oaks to a crowd of joyous supporters.

In mid-1982, the second trial began, and, although this time Hughes took the stand in his own defense, the jury reached the same verdict--guilty. Hughes was again sentenced to life in prison, where he taught other prisoners a basic education course and a religion class.

But the legal fight continued outside the Delaware Correctional Center in Smyrna. It ended in February when the Delaware Supreme Court again nullified the verdict, citing evidence that jurors wrongly knew of the previous conviction and of a lie-detector test.

Released on $100,000 bail, Hughes returned to Thousand Oaks, this time to a smaller, but nevertheless enthusiastic, reception. Since returning, he has tutored mathematics. Three weeks ago, he began teaching math at a public school, said his father, Clarence Hughes.

He has also spent time with his sons, Chad, 11, and Brock, 9.

But, as the scheduled start of the third trial loomed nearer, it became clear that there would be little money to pay expert witnesses and lawyer fees, according to Hughes and others. The group, which has raised $500,000--$143,000 of it in outstanding loans--had run out of steam after so many years, said Harry Traoutman, its treasurer.

God Has a ‘Plan’

Hughes said he could have had the public defender’s office handle his case in a third trial. But, he said, God has a plan for him, and, “that plan cannot be fulfilled as long as I’m back here” involved in another trial.

For Hughes’ parents, Tuesday’s court hearing brought feelings of outrage and disappointment.

“We have fought for his innocence with every ounce of energy we have,” said Clarence Hughes, who lives in Newbury Park with his wife, son and grandsons. Both Clarence and Florence Hughes said they still believe their son is innocent, but that a third murder trial could have ended in another guilty verdict and a sentence of life in prison. The guilty plea, they reasoned, was the lesser of two evils.

From the prosecution’s view, though, Tuesday’s events were pleasing. “We’re satisfied that the issue of the guilt or innocence of Robert Hughes is finally and completely established,” Dalton said.

Hughes, who is free on $100,000 bail, will remain on the East Coast for several days and plans to return to Thousand Oaks sometime next week, his father said.

When he returns, there will be family and supporters to meet with, as well as representatives of a television production company interested in chronicling his story, Clarence Hughes said.

As for his teaching job, that has ended for now. State law does not allow convicted felons to hold teaching credentials.

But Robert Hughes said Tuesday his teaching career was not on his mind at that moment. He said he wants to get the case completed and move on, “taking one day at a time.”