Jurors got their first glimpse into the dark fantasy world of convicted murderer Jonathan Binney Wednesday as they began the process of deciding whether he will live or die.

Jurors got their first glimpse into the dark fantasy world of convicted murderer Jonathan Binney Wednesday as they began the process of deciding whether he will live or die.



The jury of six men and six women also heard Binney's voice, albeit on tape, for the first time since testimony in his trial began on Nov. 9. Binney, 28, was convicted on charges of capital murder and first-degree burglary on Monday.



Jurors had heard more than two days of testimony, which convinced them that Binney fatally shot 39-year-old Judy Lynne Southern in her home on Cowpens-Pacolet Highway on June 7, 2000, after illegally entering the residence several hours earlier. Prosecutors had declared their intention to seek the death penalty a year and a half earlier, and jurors knew it.



But with the end of the "guilt phase" of Binney's capital murder trial and the beginning of the "penalty phase," Solicitor Trey Gowdy and Deputy Solicitor Donnie Willingham were free to present evidence about the defendant's character and criminal history that they had been barred from mentioning until now. What the prosecutors told jurors had more than one of them wincing in disgust. Gowdy and Willingham said Binney's extensive criminal history includes a 2001 conviction on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor for sexually assaulting his infant daughter so forcefully that she suffered massive internal injuries.



Binney's attorneys argued that he was tried and convicted of the charge 19 months ago, drawing a sentence of 30 years in prison. They said prosecutors are dwelling on the case to evoke an emotional reaction from jurors to get them to vote for the death penalty. "Sentence him for this crime," defense attorney Trent Pruett urged. After successfully prosecuting Binney on the child molestation charge in April 2001, Gowdy called it "probably the most disturbing case I've ever been a part of in seven years as a federal and state prosecutor, and that includes a case involving the contract murder of a federal witness."



Binney's own lawyer in the case said he is plagued by a variety of sexual perversions and is unable to control himself. A psychologist testifying on Binney's behalf described the defendant as a pedophile with other fetishes who had been sexually molested by males and females as a child, and who had become addicted to Internet pornography as an adult. Wednesday, prosecutor Willingham told jurors that Binney revealed to investigators his fantasy of raping his wife's brother's wife and killing his wife's brother.



Amanda Simmons, a State Law Enforcement Division agent who conducts forensic examinations of computers, testified that she had found more than 20,000 images of adult and child pornography in Binney's computer.



Binney did not testify in his trial, but jurors heard from him nevertheless in an audiotape of an interview conducted in December 1999 by Spartanburg County Sheriff's Investigator Steve Denton.



The tape was made while Binney was under investigation in the sexual assault of his daughter. It was the first time jurors had heard the voice of the man whose life they hold in their hands.



Acknowledging only that he had penetrated the infant with a sexual device -- he later issued a written statement admitting to rape -- Binney told Denton that he had been curious to see whether an infant could be sexually aroused. Binney, who is adopted, told Denton that he had told his birth mother he had sexual fantasies about her.



She didn't seem interested, he said. When the tape ended, one female juror held her head in her hands in apparent anguish while another shook his head.



Driving home his argument that Binney deserves death, Willingham pointed to the defendant's crime against his daughter and his subsequent efforts to evade responsibility. He reminded jurors that Binney had surprised Southern, whom he did not know, and killed her in her own home.



"Ladies and gentlemen, he's earned it," the prosecutor said. Wednesday's testimony also included the tearful recollections of members of Southern's family, who remembered her as a beloved friend who brought happiness into their lives. The prosecutors concluded their presentation. Defense attorneys Pruett and Mitch Slade will present their case for a life sentence instead of death.



Tom Langhorne can be reached at 582-4511, Ext. 7221, or tom.langhorne@shj.com.