A jury found appellant Donnie Cleveland Lance guilty of murdering Sabrina “Joy” Lance and Dwight “Butch” Wood, Jr., and of burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.1 The jury fixed the sentence for the murder of Joy Lance at death after finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder was committed while appellant was engaged in another capital felony the murder of Butch Wood, was committed while appellant was engaged in a burglary, and was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind, and an aggravated battery to the victim. See OCGA § 17-10-30 b 2 and 7. The jury fixed the sentence for the murder of Butch Wood at death after finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder was committed while appellant was engaged in another capital felony the murder of Joy Lance and while appellant was engaged in a burglary. See OCGA § 17-10-30 b 2.
1. The evidence presented at trial showed the following. The bodies of the victims were discovered in Butch Wood’s home on November 9, 1997. Butch had been shot at least twice with a shotgun and Joy had been beaten to death by repeated blows to her face. Expert testimony suggested they had died earlier that day, sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. The door to Wood’s home had imprints consistent with size 7 EE Sears “Diehard” work shoes. Joy’s father testified he told appellant Joy was not at home when appellant had telephoned him looking for Joy at 11:55 p.m. on November 8. A law enforcement officer testified he saw appellant’s car leave appellant’s driveway near midnight. When questioned by an investigating officer, Lance denied owning Diehard work shoes; however, a search of Lance’s shop revealed an empty shoe box that had markings showing it formerly contained shoes of the same type and size as those that made the imprints on Wood’s door, testimony by Sears personnel showed that Lance had purchased work shoes of the same type and size and had then exchanged them under a warranty for a new pair, and footprints inside and outside of Lance’s shop matched the imprint on Butch Wood’s door. Officers also retrieved from a grease pit in Lance’s shop an unspent shotgun shell that matched the ammunition used in Wood’s murder.
