Henderson v. State

1

Christopher Matthew Henderson v. State of Alabama

No. CR-21-0044

Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

May 3, 2024

Appeal from Madison Circuit Court (CC-17-3064)

McCOOL, Judge.

Christopher Matthew Henderson was convicted of 15 counts of capital murder for intentionally causing the deaths of his wife Kristen Smallwood ("Kristen"); Henderson and Kristen's unborn child, Loryn Brooke Smallwood ("Loryn"); Kristen's son, Clayton Chambers ("Clayton"); Kristen's nephew, Eli Sokolowski ("Eli"); and Kristen's mother, Carol Jean Smallwood ("Carol Jean"). The murders were made capital because they were committed during the course of committing a burglary in the first degree, see § 13A-5-40(a)(4), Ala. Code 1975; during the course of committing arson in the first degree, see § 13A-5-40(a)(9), Ala. Code 1975; and during one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, see § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Ala. Code 1975. The murder of Kristen was further made capital because it was committed in violation of a court-issued protection order, see § 13A-5-40(a)(19), Ala. Code 1975, and the murders of Loryn, Clayton, and Eli were further made capital because those victims were less than 14 years of age, see § 13A-5-40(a)(15), Ala. Code 1975. The jury recommended by a vote of 11-1 that Henderson be sentenced to death, and the trial court followed the jury's recommendation and imposed that sentence.

Facts

Henderson and his ex-wife, Rhonda Carlson, were divorced in 2014 after Carlson discovered that Henderson was having an affair with Kristen. Henderson later married Kristen, and, in May 2015 the couple was living in Kristen's parents' house ("the Smallwood house") with her parents; Clayton, who was 8 years old; Eli, who was 14 months old; and Eli's parents. Kristen was also pregnant with Loryn, who was scheduled to be born near the end of August. Henderson and Kristen began "having issues in their marriage" during that time (R. 1504) and, in June 2015, Kristen's father asked Henderson to move out of the Smallwood house. After Henderson moved out, Kristen's father changed the locks on all the exterior doors.

Kristen's brother, Keith Smallwood ("Keith"), testified that, after Henderson moved out of the Smallwood house, the family experienced "odd things that [they] had never experienced" (R. 1505), including hearing "loud noises" in the middle of the night, such as "banging on the garage doors" (R. 1506), and finding a bag of marijuana in the mailbox. Keith also testified that the family discovered that "the light bulb on the light at the garage service door had been unscrewed as if ... just loosened enough to where the light would not shine." (Id.) The family had no evidence indicating that Henderson was responsible for those events, but, nevertheless, on July 29, 2015, Kristen obtained from the Madison Circuit Court a temporary ex parte protection order that commanded Henderson to "stay away from" Kristen and her residence.^[1](C. 740.) A deputy with the Madison County Sheriff's Office served Henderson with the protection order the next day. That same day, Keith purchased two surveillance cameras and installed them on the exterior of the Smallwood house; one camera was mounted "so that it would show the view of anyone entering the front of the house or exiting the front of the house" (R. 1513), and the other camera was mounted so that it would "show a view of anyone or any vehicles in the driveway or anyone entering or exiting that side of the home" through the garage door or garage service door. (R. 1514.) The third exterior door -- the back door -- was not surveilled by camera.

After moving out of the Smallwood house, Henderson reconnected with Carlson, and Carlson testified that, by "the end of July, [they] were getting back together." (R. 1761.) Carlson knew that Henderson and Kristen were still married, but Henderson told her that he and Kristen "were working on getting a divorce" (R. 1762) because "they had been arguing and fighting about different things" and "weren't getting along." (R. 1764.) According to Carlson, Henderson was angry during that time because he felt he had been mistreated by Kristen's father, and, as his anger intensified, he eventually formed a plan to "tak[e] out the entire family." (R. 1766.) Carlson agreed to help Henderson with his plan because she "blamed Kristen for taking [Henderson] away from [her]" (R. 1823), and she "hated that [Kristen] was pregnant with [Henderson's] child" and "wanted revenge." (R. 1826.) Carlson testified against Henderson in exchange for the State's pledge that it would not seek the death penalty against her, and her testimony provided the jury with the details of Henderson's plan and the couple's execution of that plan.

Henderson's plan "was to break into the [Smallwood] house and shoot all the members of the family." (R. 1769.) In order to get into the house, Henderson "was going to pick the lock" on the garage service door (R. 1770), and he purchased a .22 caliber Ruger brand handgun, which he intended to use to commit the murders. Henderson also "started doing research on ... how long the baby would be viable in the mother ... if he killed ... a pregnant mother." (R. 1767-68.) That research was necessary, Carlson explained, because she and Henderson planned to "keep [Loryn]" and "raise [her]" themselves. (R. 1782-83.)

However, at some point before the murders occurred, Carlson changed her mind and told Henderson that she "didn't want to be a mom again." (R. 1783.) Carlson's role in the plan was "to make sure that the gas can was full" because she and Henderson "were going to set the house on fire ... to make sure that there wasn't any evidence." (R. 1771-72.)

One night a few days before the murders occurred, Henderson and Carlson attempted to execute their plan. However, "the lockpick didn't work on the lock," and the couple "chickened out and decided not to do it." (R. 1770.) Carlson testified that she believed, though was not sure, that Henderson "unscrewed the light bulb" near the garage service door before they left that night. (R. 1771.) Ultimately, though, Henderson and Carlson "decided to [commit the murders] during the day" because they knew that the men who lived in the Smallwood house would not be home at that time. (Id.)

On the afternoon of August 4, 2015, Henderson and Carlson drove to the Smallwood house in Carlson's Jeep sport-utility vehicle, and the plan was that Carlson would "drop [Henderson] off" so that he could commit the murders. (R. 1775.) When they arrived at the house, Carlson got out of the vehicle and checked to see if the garage service door was unlocked, which it was. Henderson then entered the house, and Carlson left in her vehicle and parked on a dirt road behind the house, where she waited for Henderson to contact her on her cellular telephone. As planned, Henderson eventually contacted Carlson and "told [her] to bring the gas can," and Carlson returned to the house. (R. 1778.) When she arrived, Carlson attempted to enter the house through the garage service door, but she could not open the door because "there was a body laying there." (Id.) Speaking through the garage service door, Henderson told Carlson to go to the front door, and, when he opened it for her, she saw "blood on the carpet and all over him" and "saw Clayton's body in a pool of his own blood." (R. 1779.) Henderson "took the gas can out of [Carlson's] hand and started spreading gas down the hallway and through the house" (R. 1779), and "then he lit it on fire with a lighter that he had." (R. 1780.) Henderson and Carlson then left the property in Carlson's vehicle.

Deputies with the Madison County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the Smallwood house shortly after Henderson and Carlson left, and, when they arrived, they saw "heavy smoke" coming from the house and "flames starting to come from out of the attic area."

(R. 1487.) "[T]wo subjects ... in the front yard ... started telling [the deputies] that people were inside" the house (id.), but, by that time, "the fire had gotten very large . and the smoke and heat were just too intense," so the deputies could not provide any assistance to those inside the house. (R. 1488-89.) After the fire was extinguished, the bodies of Kristen, Clayton, Eli, and Carol Jean were found inside the house; Loryn's body, which had been cut out of Kristen's womb, was also found inside the house. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement officers viewed the videos recorded by the surveillance cameras that Keith had installed, and those videos were admitted into evidence and played for the jury. Consistent with Carlson's testimony, the surveillance-camera videos show Carlson enter the Smallwood house through the garage service door, exit a few moments later, and then leave the property; show Carlson return to the property with a gas can, unsuccessfully attempt to enter the garage service door, and then carry the gas can to the front door; and, approximately three minutes later, show a barefoot man whom Carlson identified as Henderson hurrying from the front door, followed by Carlson. However, no video shows Henderson entering the house.

When Henderson and Carlson left the Smallwood house, they drove to a nearby lake, where they burned Henderson's clothes and shoes. Henderson then "washed off" in the lake because he "was covered in blood" and put on fresh clothes. (R. 1784.) Henderson also threw his .22 caliber handgun into the lake, and, according to Carlson, the handle of the gun was broken because Henderson kept "hitting [Kristen] in the head with it because 'the bitch just wouldn't die.'" (R. 1782.) During the drive to the lake, Carlson asked Henderson "what happened to the baby, and he said that it would end up being whiny and needy like...