THIBODAUX -- A forensic pathologist told jurors today that one of Amy Hebert's slain children had more than 50 knife wounds on his back and many more on his chest.
Jefferson Parish Assistant Coroner Susan Garcia's testimony was a continuation of graphic descriptions the jury has witnessed since testimony in the capital-murder trial began Monday. Hebert, of Mathews, broke down and exclaimed, "Oh, God," during Garcia's testimony, prompting District Judge Jerome Barbera to declare a recess.
On Monday, jurors saw black-and-white footage of Hebert writhing in pain with her dead children beside her on a blood-soaked bed.
The scene was captured through the lens of a deputy's Taser after he arrived at the home of Hebert, the 42-year-old former elementary-school aide whose attorneys admit she killed the children but maintain the act was a product of insanity.
Hebert has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder as a result of the Aug. 20, 2007, stabbing deaths of her 9-year-old daughter, Camille, and 7-year-old son, Braxton. If the jury of 10 women and two men convicts her, Hebert could become the first person in Lafourche Parish sentenced to death in more than 30 years.
A desire for revenge against her ex-husband, not psychosis, led Hebert to kill her children and then stab herself more than 30 times in the chest, wrists and eyes, said District Attorney Cam Morvant II. He outlined the prosecution's case during opening statements Monday morning.
Morvant portrayed Hebert as a jealous wife unable to deal with her ex-husband's new relationship and her children's request to call that woman "mom." The deterioration of the relationship led Hebert to stop the children from seeing their grandmother, who lived across the street, during the summer of 2007, Morvant added.
Handwritten letters Hebert wrote to her ex-husband and his mother, Judy Hebert, would prove she possessed a sound mind, the lead prosecutor added.
"These are not the ramblings of some psychotic person," Morvant assured jurors. "She knew what she was doing. Her plan was she was going to commit suicide and the ultimate act of revenge against her ex-husband."
Defense lawyer George Parnham portrayed Hebert as a loving mother who had taken her daughter to a church function and her son to a birthday party just hours before the slayings. He noted Hebert had been treated for severe depression following her separation from her husband. She also suffered seizures that made her forget things as a result of a car crash in 1988, the attorney said.
Parnham told jurors his client's deeds the morning of Aug. 20, 2007, occurred after an imagined male voice whispered to her that if she didn't kill her children, her ex-husband would take them from her forever.
In the alleged suicide notes, Hebert, a Sunday-school teacher and avid Bible reader, wrote about not wanting her children to grow up amid the sin and degradation after her ex-husband had decided to live with his new girlfriend, Parnham told the jury.
As lightning flashed and thunder boomed from a fast-moving storm outside, Parham described Hebert's actions the morning of her children's deaths as completely irrational.
She woke at 3 a.m. and heard a male voice that said her children would be taken away from her that day if she did not kill them and herself, the attorney said.
She went to the kitchen and grabbed 11 knives, then followed the voice's directions to stab the children's beds with them in them, Parnham said as his client wept.
After stabbing the children, Hebert poured a cup of coffee from a pot with blood in it, then started stabbing herself, the defense attorney added.
As the session wore into the afternoon Monday, District Attorney Cam Morvant II also showed jurors photos of the children, their tiny chests beet red, punctured and pockmarked from being repeatedly stabbed.
The photos evoked sobs from Hebert, seated at the defense table, and her ex-husband, Chad Hebert, seated in the first row of spectators. Some of the jurors dabbed tears from their eyes.
Lt. Chad Shelby of the Lafourche Sheriff's Office, who directed the investigation, gave testimony throughout the afternoon on dozens of pieces of evidence his deputies collected.
Five witnesses who testified for the prosecution described how family and authorities discovered Hebert inside her house at 118 St. Anthony St. and how three Lafourche sheriff's deputies formed a plan to remove the dead children from her side.
Among more than 50 items admitted into evidence were 11 bent and bloody knives, a Bible with blood spots and a blood-stained rug, as well as what were described as two suicide notes.
Morvant's first witness, R.J. "Buck" Hebert, said he went to his former daughter-in-law's home after receiving reports she had not gone to work at Lockport Lower Elementary that morning.
He broke into tears while recalling the sight of his lifeless granddaughter's face next to her mother.
Sgt. Todd Prevost, Deputy Mike Wintzel and Deputy Warren Callais each testified how they worked together to wrest the knife Hebert allegedly threatened officers with, and to free the children's bodies from her grasp.
Wintzel shot Hebert in the leg with his Taser, causing her to drop the knife in her right hand.
The Taser video was presented to jurors Monday morning.
As Wintzel shocked Hebert, Prevost, who was off duty at the time, and Callais grabbed her children and took them into the living room.
After being subdued, Hebert was handcuffed and taken to Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital for treatment of punctured lungs, slit wrists and other stab wounds.
After she was back on her medication for depression, she expressed deep remorse from the deaths.
"How foolish was I to think Chad would pick up the kids that day and forever leave the community?" she told psychiatrist David Self during a mental evaluation, according to Parnham.
"On the first day, the best-case scenario is always presented by the state, but it is a long trial," Parnham said.
