Waldon Murder Trial Nears End; Strong Evidence Cited : Justice: Prosecutor calls evidence in deadly crime rampage overwhelming. Waldon makes final appeal to jury.

The attorney prosecuting accused killer Billy Ray Waldon told the jury Friday that the evidence against him is overwhelming.

The similarity of the crimes, his identification by victims and evidence found in his car undeniably point to Waldon, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Carpenter said.

“Based on this, Mr. Waldon is guilty of every charge and allegation,” Carpenter said in his closing argument.

Waldon, 39, is charged with 24 counts including murder, armed robbery, arson, rape and the malicious killing of animals, most of which occurred during a two-week period in December, 1985. Waldon, the subject of a nationwide manhunt, was arrested in June, 1986, on a traffic violation and three days later was identified as a multiple-murder suspect on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List.

Carpenter completed his closing argument Friday against Waldon, who has been representing himself during the five-month trial.

The prosecution contends that, in several of the crimes, it appears that Waldon stalked his victims and attacked the women when they were alone. The victims, including a woman who testified under cross-examination by Waldon that it was he who twice raped her, said their attacker wore a ski mask, carried a small-caliber handgun and had strong body odor.

Evidence included some of the victims’ driver’s licenses and purses that were found in his car. One of the licenses was found in Waldon’s wallet.

The most serious charges Waldon faces are three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances in the killings of Charles Gordon Wells, Dawn Ellerman and her daughter, Erin Ellerman. The special circumstances include: the murder of Dawn Ellerman during the commission of a robbery; the murder of Wells during the commission of a burglary; fleeing from a robbery in order to avoid arrest and multiple murders, which includes the murder of Erin Ellerman as a result of a fire that was set to cover up the murder of her mother.

Carpenter is asking for a finding of special circumstances in all those cases, although a finding of just one would be enough to qualify Waldon for a possible death penalty.

The possibility that Waldon was following his victims was magnified, the prosecutor said, by the discovery of a page torn from a Thomas Bros. map. The page was found in the glove compartment of Waldon’s car and showed the neighborhoods where the Ellerman murders, the rapes and a robbery occurred. Carpenter said the areas are “fairly remote,” and that it was unlikely that Waldon just happened upon his victims.

In the case of a woman raped twice, Carpenter said Waldon clearly had been watching the woman move to a new apartment with her boyfriend.

“He followed them, waiting for a chance to get her alone because apparently he enjoyed what he did to her on Dec. 17,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter pointed to Waldon’s testimony that he needed money as a motive for the armed robberies. Waldon’s testimony earlier that he had applied to get food stamps, that he visited the Veterans Administration to get financial counseling, and had applied for a new Social Security card showed Waldon was “obviously hunting for money,” the prosecutor said.

Waldon, who says he is part Cherokee and addressed himself on the stand as “Mr. Sequoyah,” has contended that he was framed by FBI agents.

When soft-spoken Waldon approached the lectern Friday to begin his closing arguments before the jury, he apologized for his lengthy cross-examinations during the trial.

“This is the last chance I have to speak to you,” Waldon said. “It does seem like I’ve taken a lot of unnecessary time. I beg you to forgive me, but I’m charged with stuff I never did.”

Although throughout the trial Waldon has maintained that he was not at the scene of any of the crimes, he spent the rest of the day discussing the robbery in which Wells was killed, indicating that “the suspect” shot Wells in self-defense. Waldon said Wells and John Copeland, who was also shot, were the aggressors and went after “the suspect.”

“Even if you believe I wasn’t there, please believe it was in self-defense,” Waldon said.

Waldon is scheduled to continue his closing arguments Tuesday.