Washington later changed his version of what happened, and others' stories of the day's events contradict his, but all accounts agree that Washington went into Weeks' house for the gun and hit her with a chair. Ultimately, Washington would end up pleading guilty, after his murder conviction in Culpeper, to assault and breaking and entering.
Washington confessed to three assaults on females in Warrenton in addition to that on Weeks. He said he had assaulted a woman on Waterloo Road near Fauquier High School. He was never charged, because his confession was inconsistent with the facts of the case.
He confessed to breaking and entering at a woman's home on Winchester Street, but the victim viewed a line-up and said Washington was not the one who did it. He wasn't charged with the crime.
He also confessed to raping a woman on Culpeper Street. Charges were eventually dropped because the victim had identified someone else as the rapist, and her description did not fit Washington.
Eventually, all of the charges were dropped, except for that of breaking in and assaulting Weeks. The attempted-rape charge was dropped in that case.
But when Washington was tried in Culpeper for capital murder, there were three charges still pending against him. When a preliminary hearing was finally held in the Weeks case, the prosecutor asked her if Washington had tried to have sex with her, and she said no. She had never made such an accusation. At that point, Washington was on death row.
According to the court transcript, the judge in the Culpeper trial, David F. Berry, did not allow the charges pending against Washington in Fauquier to be brought up during the trial. But 11 of the 12 jurors said they had already read about the charges against Washington in Culpeper or Fauquier in the newspapers or heard about them on the radio.
After Washington had confessed to four crimes, the Fauquier Sheriff's Office thought to ask about the crime in Culpeper. On the first go-round Washington denied doing it. He was sent back to his jail cell. Later, he reportedly asked to speak to the deputies again, and they asked him again about the Williams murder. "Earl, did you kill that girl in Culpeper?"
According to the police notes, he sat silently for five seconds, then said yes and shook his head and started crying. Shortly after this, the police notes say, the questioning stopped "because of the lack of information concerning the Williams murder." The police did not know Williams had been raped, and Washington did not produce that information.
*****
Eric Freedman, a defense lawyer now working on Washington's case, said he thought the police acted in good faith. "They had no reason to know he was mentally retarded. Earl is a very nice, kind, gentle guy. He says 'Yes, Sir' to everybody. You can have a long converstion with him in which he seems to understand everything."
Freedman said, according to notes taken by the police, Washington said yes to everything asked him, including a description of raping Weeks. "They asked him 'Didn't you do this? Didn't you do that?' Eventually Weeks would say that no such thing ever happened. But they didn't know that yet. So, they started asking him about all of the unsolved sexual crimes on their books."
A leading expert on mental retardation, Ruth Luckasson, professor of special education at the University of New Mexico, has maintained that saying yes is a normal coping mechanism for a mentally retarted person, a way to please and to appear smarter than you are. "When you are less intelligent," Freedman said, "usually the other guy is right and you're wrong. So you tend to agree with him."
CHRONOLOGY
On May 22, 1983, State Police Special Agent C. Reese Wilmore and Culpeper Police Lt. Lee Hart, now Culpeper County sheriff, drove to Fauquier to question Bealeton resident Earl Washington about the rape and murder of Rebecca Williams in Culpeper nearly a year earlier.
They would later report that Washington had confessed to them, identified a shirt from the crime scene as his, and identified the location of Williams' apartment when they drove him through Culpeper.
Washington confessed to three assaults on females in Warrenton in addition to that on Weeks. He said he had assaulted a woman on Waterloo Road near Fauquier High School. He was never charged, because his confession was inconsistent with the facts of the case.
He confessed to breaking and entering at a woman's home on Winchester Street, but the victim viewed a line-up and said Washington was not the one who did it. He wasn't charged with the crime.
He also confessed to raping a woman on Culpeper Street. Charges were eventually dropped because the victim had identified someone else as the rapist, and her description did not fit Washington.
But when Washington was tried in Culpeper for capital murder, there were three charges still pending against him. When a preliminary hearing was finally held in the Weeks case, the prosecutor asked her if Washington had tried to have sex with her, and she said no. She had never made such an accusation. At that point, Washington was on death row.
According to the court transcript, the judge in the Culpeper trial, David F. Berry, did not allow the charges pending against Washington in Fauquier to be brought up during the trial. But 11 of the 12 jurors said they had already read about the charges against Washington in Culpeper or Fauquier in the newspapers or heard about them on the radio.
After Washington had confessed to four crimes, the Fauquier Sheriff's Office thought to ask about the crime in Culpeper. On the first go-round Washington denied doing it. He was sent back to his jail cell. Later, he reportedly asked to speak to the deputies again, and they asked him again about the Williams murder. "Earl, did you kill that girl in Culpeper?"
According to the police notes, he sat silently for five seconds, then said yes and shook his head and started crying. Shortly after this, the police notes say, the questioning stopped "because of the lack of information concerning the Williams murder." The police did not know Williams had been raped, and Washington did not produce that information.
*****
Eric Freedman, a defense lawyer now working on Washington's case, said he thought the police acted in good faith. "They had no reason to know he was mentally retarded. Earl is a very nice, kind, gentle guy. He says 'Yes, Sir' to everybody. You can have a long converstion with him in which he seems to understand everything."
Freedman said, according to notes taken by the police, Washington said yes to everything asked him, including a description of raping Weeks. "They asked him 'Didn't you do this? Didn't you do that?' Eventually Weeks would say that no such thing ever happened. But they didn't know that yet. So, they started asking him about all of the unsolved sexual crimes on their books."
A leading expert on mental retardation, Ruth Luckasson, professor of special education at the University of New Mexico, has maintained that saying yes is a normal coping mechanism for a mentally retarted person, a way to please and to appear smarter than you are. "When you are less intelligent," Freedman said, "usually the other guy is right and you're wrong. So you tend to agree with him."
CHRONOLOGY
On May 22, 1983, State Police Special Agent C. Reese Wilmore and Culpeper Police Lt. Lee Hart, now Culpeper County sheriff, drove to Fauquier to question Bealeton resident Earl Washington about the rape and murder of Rebecca Williams in Culpeper nearly a year earlier.
They would later report that Washington had confessed to them, identified a shirt from the crime scene as his, and identified the location of Williams' apartment when they drove him through Culpeper.
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