Death penalty expected to be dropped in alleged Warner Robins murder-for-hire in exchange for testimony

WARNER ROBINS -- The accused shooter in an alleged murder-for-hire plot in Warner Robins is expected to testify against the husband of the victim in exchange for withdrawal of the death penalty, court records show.

Richard Grant Sybert, 30, of Warner Robins, is accused of shooting to death Joni Clements on Feb. 8, 2011 in the master bedroom of her Westwood Drive home for the promise of $1,000, a car and a date with a stripper.

Clements’ husband, James “Eddy” Clements, 55, a sheet metal mechanic at Robins Air Force Base, is accused of hiring Sybert to kill his wife.

Robert Sybert, 53, who cleaned the Clements’ pool, is accused of being his son’s getaway driver and providing the gun used in the slaying.

Clements’ trial has been set for the week of Aug. 20 before Houston County Superior Court Judge Edward D. Lukemire, with jury selection expected on that Monday.

District Attorney George Hartwig previously filed notice Jan. 18 to seek the death penalty against Richard Sybert.

A consent agreement was signed May 11 by Hartwig; Burt Baker, a capital defender appointed to represent Sybert; and Sybert that Sybert will testify for the prosecution in exchange for the withdrawal of the death penalty, according to a copy of the agreement filed in Superior Court.

The agreement also calls for Sybert to plead guilty to all of the charges against him and waive all rights to appeal. All three men were indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder, burglary, possession of a firearm during a crime, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, kidnapping with bodily injury, use of a sawed-off rifle to commit murder and use of a firearm with a silencer to commit murder, according to the indictment.

Hartwig previously said he would not seek the death penalty for Clements or Robert Sybert. Both have pleaded not guilty. The case against Robert Sybert is pending. Hartwig said. No agreements have been entered in regard to Robert Sybert, Hartwig said.

The agreement regarding Richard Sybert’s testimony also calls for a sentencing recommendation from the district attorney of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The prosecution’s notice to seek the death penalty for Sybert “will remain in full force” until Sybert meets all of the conditions of the agreement, the agreement states.

Hartwig declined to elaborate on the agreement pending trial.

“We look forward to getting it in front of a jury and presenting the evidence in the case,” Hartwig said.

Baker could not be reached for comment.

Laura Hogue, one of the Macon attorneys representing Clements, said she was not surprised by the agreement and would not be surprised if the prosecution offers a similar deal to Robert Sybert.

“It’s a significant corroboration agreement,” Hogue said. “The DA’s agreed to spare Richard’s life if he’ll cooperate and he’ll testify the way he expects. I think the bias inherent with that is overwhelming.”

Clements denies the allegation of Richard Sybert that he killed his wife because Clements asked him to, and “he’s prepared to defend against that,” Hogue said.

Hogue noted no evidence has been presented that any money exchanged hands. The only money Clements paid Robert Sybert was a minimal amount to help maintain the family pool in the backyard, Hogue said.

She also noted Richard Sybert’s criminal history of violence against women and inconsistencies among video statements to authorities given by the Syberts.

Also, Hogue characterized the finding of a drawing of a silencer found by authorities in Clements’ tool box at work the day of his wife’s murder as a weird coincidence. She noted that a friend of Clements has remained steadfast in his statements that he asked Clements, who welds, about a silencer for the friend to be able to shoot nuisance critters on his property without alarming the neighbors or children who might hear the gunfire.

Details of the slaying emerged during a Magistrate Court hearing for Richard Sybert May 24, 2011.

Warner Robins police Detective Mark Wright, the lead investigator, testified Richard Sybert told authorities Joni Clements pleaded for her life -- throwing him the keys to her vehicle parked in the driveway and telling him there was money in it, Wright told the judge. Police found $90 cash in her vehicle, Wright said.

Sybert, who told police he was given a key to the front door by Eddy Clements, also told authorities he gave the key back to Joni Clements at the request of her husband the night he shot her.

She was shot four to five times in the upper torso with a .22-caliber sawed-off rifle that was found buried near the Red Fox Run mobile home the Syberts shared, Wright said. Ammunition was also recovered buried with the gun.

The key Richard Sybert said he gave Joni Clements was found near her body and opened the front door, Wright said. A cell phone was found near her hand with a string of numbers that had been dialed before her death at 6:30 p.m. Her body was found near the dresser in the upstairs master bedroom. Twenty-two caliber shell casings were found nearby.

About the same time, a couple in their vehicle saw a tall, slender man running from near the Clements’ home and saw him jump into a champagne-colored car on Leverett Road, Wright testified.

The car, which had one white panel that did not match the rest of the vehicle, belonged to Robert Sybert.

But Hogue argued at the hearing that police did not have any evidence that Clements solicited the murder of his wife other than the word of Richard Sybert and Robert Sybert, and both implicated Clements only after changing statements to police.

She argued Richard Sybert and Robert Sybert “pointed the finger” at Clements to “minimize their own criminal exposure.”

This story was originally published May 28, 2012 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Death penalty expected to be dropped in alleged Warner Robins murder-for-hire in exchange for testimony."