A pastor convicted of murdering his girlfriend on the night before he was set to marry his other girlfriend will remain in prison for the rest of his life.
William Pounds, who served at King’s Chapel Memorial CME Church in Perry, Georgia, had appealed his conviction of killing fiancée Kendra Jackson, saying the state’s case against him was insufficient. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled against Pounds last week, saying the evidence against him was “ample.”
He was accused of leading a double life: Preacher by day and a shady womanizer at night. Pounds, also a senior master sergeant assigned to the 116th Air Control Wing at Robins Air Force Base, had been dating Jackson and the woman he was supposed to marry, Vicinda Crawford, for 10 years.
“Pounds was repeatedly able to convince each woman that he had left the other and wanted to be with her,” the court said in its opinion.
The “other women” met for the first time in May 2015, on National Pastor Appreciation Day. They showed up separately to surprise Pounds and were certainly successful in achieving that.
The two women realized they had much in common and began texting.
“These texts led the women to discover that Pounds was cheating on each woman with the other, despite presently being engaged to be married to [the other woman Vicinda] Crawford,” the opinion said. “Through their text messages, Crawford and Jackson consoled each other over their situation.”
Jackson ended her relationship with Pounds, but Crawford remained committed to him. They were to be married June 12, 2015.
Pounds tried to use this to his advantage, saying Jackson shot herself in his bedroom after learning of his plans to marry Crawford. Her death was initially ruled a suicide.
But forensic testimony revealed “no evidence that [Jackson] had the gun in her hand” when she was shot on the night of June 11. Pounds claimed he had called for help immediately, but experts determined Jackson had been left face down for at least 7 minutes before she was moved.
There were other discrepancies. He had changed his story during the 911 call. The pastor initially claimed Jackson had argued about their breakup before she placed a .40-caliber handgun belonging to Pounds to her head, but later altered his story, suggesting it went off when he tried to take it from her, according to The Macon Telegraph.
Pounds, who told a firefighter at the scene he wasn’t in the room when Jackson was killed, noted that he only heard one gunshot, but holes were found in the wall and a mattress. A crime lab technician testified that someone tried to remove the bullet from the wall. And Pounds allegedly made his bed, prosecutors said, in an attempt to cover up the stray bullet hole.
The defense also claimed that hearsay evidence was improperly admitted, but the court found that that piece of the case was inconsequential and would not have led to a different outcome in the trial.
By law, the Georgia Supreme Court reviews evidence in a manner consistent with the verdict.
Pounds will continue to serve his life sentence without the possibility of parole.
