ASHEVILLE, N.C., Nov. 16 -- A psychiatrist returned to the stand Thursday for a full day of testimony as attorneys attempted to build an insanity defense for a North Carolina man accused of murder in the 1994 abduction, rape and killing of a jogger. Richard Allen Jackson, 26, is accused of first-degree murder of Karen Styles at a popular park outside Asheville. Styles was found gagged and bound to a tree with duct tape nine days after she disappeared while out for a run. Investigators said she had been shot in the head with a .22 caliber rifle, but would not confirm reports the victim also had been mutilated. Jackson reportedly admitted killing the 22-year-old woman but maintains he is innocent by reason of insanity. After his arrest, Jackson County Sheriff's Lt. Randall Bradford said Jackson, the adopted son of a well-known Asheville-area realtor, confessed to the Styles' slaying but claimed everything got out of control and that he never meant to kill her. Defense attorneys called psychiatrist Francois Hall to support their contention Jackson was not responsible for his actions. Jackson could not differentiate between right and wrong at the time of the killing because of medication he was taking for a severe burn on his arm, Hall contended. The defense maintained Jackson had been abused as a child prior to his adoption, and that abuse also helped shape his actions. Prosecutors wrapped up their case Wednesday after presenting 183 pieces of evidence, including pornographic magazines and duct tape found at the crime scene and a .22 caliber rifle, believed to be the murder weapon, that Jackson returned to a K mart store three miles from where Styles' body was discovered.
Police also found an electric cattle prod in Jackson's car, but his wife Donna testified that the implement was hers. She could not explain why she kept a cattle prod, but reportedly forced her husband to return the rifle he purchased so their two young children would not be hurt accidentally. Police analysts testified marks found on the victim's body matched with those that would be left if the cattle prod were used on human flesh.
