- Jul 26, 2010
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The murder convictions of the three white men who chased him may have been secured as much by their own words to investigators the day of the shooting.
The shooter, Travis McMichael, his dad, Greg McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan all spoke extensively and candidly with Glynn County investigators just hours after Arbery was killed in their Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood in February 2020.
Greg McMichael, who was in the bed of a pickup truck when his son killed Arbery, told police the Black man "was trapped like a rat" and he told Arbery: "Stop, or I’ll blow your f---ing head off!”
Statements like that allowed prosecutors to give context to the short video that didn't show the entire shooting and had little of the five minutes that the men chased Arbery.
“I don’t think the guy has actually stolen anything out of there, or if he did it was early in the process. But he keeps going back over and over again to this damn house," Greg McMichael said, according to a transcript of the interview that Glynn County police Sgt. Roderic Nohilly read in court.
Bryan was on his front porch when he saw Arbery run past with the McMichaels’ truck close behind. He told police he didn’t recognize any of them, or know what prompted the chase, but still joined in after calling out: “Y’all got him?”
“I figured he had done something wrong,” Bryan said. “I didn’t know for sure.”
That left the attorneys for the men to struggle to explain away their statements.
“The evidence suggests that Roddie Bryan legitimately struggles to find the right words,” Bryan's lawyer, Kevin Gough, told jurors in his closing argument Monday.
Travis McMichael, testifying in his own defense, said he was in shock when he first spoke to police, calling the shooting the most traumatic event of his life.
Greg McMichael's lawyer suggested maybe he never shouted at Arbery: "Stop, or I’ll blow your f---ing head off” like he told police because the remark wasn’t recorded on the cellphone video of the shooting or the 911 call Greg McMichael made to police. Both of those recordings covered only a small part of the five-minute chase that ended in Arbery’s death.
“You only have a handful of defenses to deal with what is basically a confession,” Pate said.
Their dumb ass decisions and their big mouths is why they are going to spend a lot of years in prison.
The shooter, Travis McMichael, his dad, Greg McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan all spoke extensively and candidly with Glynn County investigators just hours after Arbery was killed in their Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood in February 2020.
Greg McMichael, who was in the bed of a pickup truck when his son killed Arbery, told police the Black man "was trapped like a rat" and he told Arbery: "Stop, or I’ll blow your f---ing head off!”
Statements like that allowed prosecutors to give context to the short video that didn't show the entire shooting and had little of the five minutes that the men chased Arbery.
“I don’t think the guy has actually stolen anything out of there, or if he did it was early in the process. But he keeps going back over and over again to this damn house," Greg McMichael said, according to a transcript of the interview that Glynn County police Sgt. Roderic Nohilly read in court.
Bryan was on his front porch when he saw Arbery run past with the McMichaels’ truck close behind. He told police he didn’t recognize any of them, or know what prompted the chase, but still joined in after calling out: “Y’all got him?”
“I figured he had done something wrong,” Bryan said. “I didn’t know for sure.”
That left the attorneys for the men to struggle to explain away their statements.
“The evidence suggests that Roddie Bryan legitimately struggles to find the right words,” Bryan's lawyer, Kevin Gough, told jurors in his closing argument Monday.
Travis McMichael, testifying in his own defense, said he was in shock when he first spoke to police, calling the shooting the most traumatic event of his life.
Greg McMichael's lawyer suggested maybe he never shouted at Arbery: "Stop, or I’ll blow your f---ing head off” like he told police because the remark wasn’t recorded on the cellphone video of the shooting or the 911 call Greg McMichael made to police. Both of those recordings covered only a small part of the five-minute chase that ended in Arbery’s death.
“You only have a handful of defenses to deal with what is basically a confession,” Pate said.
Their dumb ass decisions and their big mouths is why they are going to spend a lot of years in prison.