Judge grants bond for Rebecca Smith Haynie in cold case homicide
Rebecca Smith Haynie returned to her Harris County home Friday after Judge Frank Jordan Jr. granted the murder suspect a $75,000 bond during a Muscogee County Superior Court bond reduction hearing.
Haynie sported an ankle monitor when she emerged flanked by family members from the Muscogee County Jail Friday afternoon. She is required to wear the monitor through the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office pre-release program. Jordan also ordered that her home must be searched by the Harris County Sheriff's Office before she is allowed to reenter.
Her alleged lover and accomplice, Donald Keith "Bull" Phillips, was released the day before after he was given the same bond during a Tuesday morning hearing.
Both Haynie and Phillips are charged with Kirby Smith Jr.'s fatal shooting inside Kirby's Speed Shop at 1438 Jackqueline Drive on March 3, 2004. Kirby was found dead of a gunshot wound to the torso and the head by a coworker the following morning. The cold case murder has been the subject of TNT's "Cold Justice" series.
Smith was killed in the midst of a contentious divorce between Smith and Haynie. Police believe Haynie, who works at a high-risk nursery in Warm Springs, persuaded Phillips to kill Smith on March 3 while she worked an emergency C-section as an alibi, according to previous reports. Haynie married Heath Haynie about four months after Smith was killed.
Friday's hearing comes about two months after a July 21 court appearance in which Jordan denied Haynie bond. Defense Attorney Michael Reynolds argued for a second time Friday that Haynie is a primary breadwinner for husband Heath Haynie and their adopted 5-year-old grandchild. Since her June 4 arrest, Reynolds said, Haynie has lost her job and her husband has had to take substantial time off work. The family is in danger of bankruptcy, he said.
Reynolds also argued the case against Haynie was so weak as to warrant a low bond with no supervision. Haynie had been under suspicion for Smith's murder for 10 years, he argued, and yet Haynie had not left town or made any move to indicate she was trying to escape culpability.
"Based on the evidence that they have, it is my opinion, and it is my opinion, that they have very weak circumstantial evidence against her," Reynolds said. "We would argue that her bond should at least be lower than Phillips'."
Senior Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly rebutted Reynolds' suggestion by saying that the prosecution believed her bond should be at least double the amount given to Phillips, if it was lowered at all. Kelly cited 40 witnesses who had called his office fearing for their lives if Haynie was released.
"They're concerned that she would lash out in anger," Kelly said. "They're concerned about the safety of the family, they're concerned about witnesses. One of the witnesses' concerns with Mr. Phillips getting out was that Ms. Haynie could still communicate with him, which is exactly how police believe this case was carried out."
Kelly successfully argued that if a lower bond was set for Haynie, Jordan should at least require Haynie to wear an ankle monitor through the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office pre-release program. He also requested that Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies search Haynie's home for weapons and passports.
"We understand that there are a number of firearms in the house, and we ask that those be removed and that Harris County Sheriff's Office check her home before her entering it," Kelly said.
During Haynie's preliminary hearing on June 6, investigators told a Recorder's Court judge that because Smith had proof of Haynie's infidelity the couple would have been awarded joint custody of their son and she would have received no child support or settlement. Detectives also said that witnesses testified Haynie had said repeatedly she wanted Smith dead, though she claimed the statements were made in jest and were typical for anyone going through a divorce.
The night of the murder, detectives said Haynie had an AOL account she could use to tell if Smith was at his computer at the auto shop around 8:30 p.m.
Phillips, who detectives claimed was infatuated with Haynie, told police he left Haynie's then home on Edgewood Road to go to Taco Bell around 8:45 p.m. At 9:33 p.m., he placed a call to Haynie's cell phone at a pay phone near the Taco Bell. Although Phillips claims he went straight to the Taco Bell, detectives say the trip should have only taken 11 minutes and that Phillips had ample time to kill Smith before placing the call.
This story was originally published September 12, 2014 at 10:54 AM with the headline "Judge grants bond for Rebecca Smith Haynie in cold case homicide."