The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 28, 1981, Image 1
' 4My Fair Lady*: Dogs Deliver
Long, Lovable USC Nightmare
? page 7 ? page 12
GAMECOCK
LXXI, No. 25 University of South Carolina - Monday, September 28,1981
' Testimom
From Staff Reports
Testimony began Sept. 25 in the trial of Donald Ray Perry,
20, accused in the rape and murder of USC education
Professor Mary Heimberger.
Uat mKnrrfor uric Lrillort hnf \i7onn nno Qnrl fnl 1 r Knlirc off or*
1 IV IIIIM^I o 1 rvtiivv* IJVITT vvu UIIV UIIU iUUl 11V7UI O UllVl
eating dinner at a restaurant on Two Notch Road according
to Dr. William R. Armstrong, a Richland Memorial Hospital
9k r\M 4 U/~?l*\ t~11C
0 pern IUIU510L.
Armstrong testified that the USC professor was killed by a
gunshot wound that entered through her chest, traveled
through her heart and lungs and exited from the back.
Heimberger was last seen by Lettie S. Herbert when they
met for dinner. The two met at 6 p.m. March ^ and dined until
aoout /:5Up.m.
DEFENSE attorneys for Perry said in an opening
statement Friday that their defendant was a witness to the
murder, not a participant.
UAt??%kAiiitait in\rnchrfahn(T nf.
r I'lt'IlUb cUlU asauvioica ut Iicnnucigti, iiMvoiiguniig, UW
ficers from Richland County Sheriff's Department, Armstrong
and the two children who found the body in a wooded
area off Hock Gate Drive March 6 all took the stand in the
IT' "? up mi I in i
lljp
>nV mi SiHHBHHHBra
m HBH
wHsBSE '" \'i
?,*
Temperamental Sprir
I On A Hr>t Afternoon
I L
, dam;h? Im 11
r dotjiiia ifi
opening day of testimony. (
Fifth Circuit Solicitor James C. Anders and Career c
Criminal Prosecutor Steve Brown called a total of 14 witnesses
to the stand. c
Anders said he will call about 30 witnesses to the stand (
during the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.
Anders is seeking the death penalty against Perry, who is 1
accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering the 44-year-old 1
education proiessor. t
FRIENDS of Heimberger testified she was a meticulous 1
woman who was never late for an appointment. <
it was HeimDerger s tauure to snow up lor her March b
classes that first alarmed her friends. <
One woman testified that because she was worried she
went to the Foxcroft East Apartment complex where I
Heimhereer lived She said the anartment was emntv but 1
that everything appeared to be all right. She said she saw
Heimberger's 1978 Mercury Zephyr parked some distance 1
from the apartment, and when she looked in the window, she
saw everyming was in uisarray.
Two youngsters testified they found the body while riding
their mopeds in the area. The two notified one of their
mothers, Brenda Sims Byrd, who went to the scene, got close
jjjI
.11^ There's something about a sprinkler
1IX I ? I Rachel Abraham, daughter of USC La
first photo, Rachel timidly checks ou
cooling spray. But a prod of the foe
Ko^cl ilit/n nk.-v4^k\ D
wvmji 1r> anvv. ^Illliu pilUIU/t l\aLI|1
erry Trial
inough to determine it was a body and called the sheriff's
iepartment.
Armstrong said Heimberger could have lived only minutes
after receiving the fatal wound. He testified Heimberger
^ould not have walked or moved after being shot.
ASIDE from the fatal shot, Heimberger was also shot in the
cnees. Armstrong said the bullet hole to the back of the right
<nee indicates it could have been made while the victim was
rying to escape.
Armstrong also testified that a grazing wound to the right
orearm indicated Heimberger had her arm raised in a
ueiensive position.
He said the bullet that went through the chest probably
:aused the forearm wound.
Armstrong said Heimberger's belt was tied tightly around
ler neck at the time of her death, though strangulation was
nnl iho pnnconf Houth
Armstrong said an autopsy revealed she had been the
victim of forced sexual assault before death and that the
body was further abused after death.
The jury was allowed to see four slides taken of the body a
the scene of the crime and at the morgue in the hospital
/^: : a i i ^ ? i. _ : it ..i J a ~ 11 ... ? l; .
circuit .muge juiius it. naggeu wouiu noi auow oiikm hiiuf:
to be shown because he said they were too explicit.
J . >> ! mum m
*mW*m
SUM Photos by ( APIRS HAMMOND
th.tt rKilrlrori r.in't rncict C/t iHoctc litllo
?RIM? Viyii%aivai VMM 1 v J>U|* l/U w IIV >1| J OllllV
w School Professor Harlan Abraham. In the
t the mysterious sprinkler, moving into its
>t (second photo) and the temperamental
?l went home soaked. i