A jury convicted John Anthony Esposito of murdering Lola Davis and related crimes and fixed his sentence at death, after finding beyond a reasonable doubt the following statutory aggravating circumstances: that the murder was committed during the commission of an armed robbery and a kidnapping with bodily injury and that the murder was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved depravity of mind.1 For the reasons set forth below, we affirm his convictions and sentences.
1. The evidence adduced at trial, including testimony recounting Esposito’s confession to federal authorities, showed that on September 19, 1996, Esposito’s co-conspirator, Alicia Woodward, persuaded Lola Davis to give her a ride from a parking lot in Lumberton, North Carolina. Woodward directed Davis to a nearby location where Esposito entered Davis’ automobile. Esposito and Woodward then forced the elderly Davis, without the use of any weapons, to drive to a nearby parking lot and to move to the passenger seat of her automobile. Esposito removed one thousand dollars and Davis’ checkbook from her purse, and Woodward drove Davis’ automobile to a local bank where she cashed a check for three hundred dollars that she and Esposito had forced Davis to write. Woodward and Esposito then drove Davis to a remote location in Morgan County, Georgia, where Esposito led Davis into a hayfield, forced her to kneel, and beat her to death with tree limbs and other debris. Esposito and Woodward then drove in Davis’ automobile to Alabama where they disposed of Davis’ automobile and purse. Davis’ automobile was shown at trial to contain fingerprints, palm prints, and footprints matching Esposito’s and Woodward’s. Saliva on a cigarette butt found in the automobile was shown to contain DNA consistent with Esposito’s DNA.
