The Murder of Nola "Ann" Charles

I have often said how I feel we all have to believe in the justice system and the way that it is at least supposed to work. It is not as if I have never seen a case in which proper justice has not been served. In fact, it is quite the contrary. I come across cases every day that in my opinion has made a mockery out of the justice system. Not all of those cases resulted in the acquittal of people I believe are guilty (i.e. think O.J and Casey Anthony). Some of those cases are the prosecution of defendants I believe are innocent. One thing it seems that all of the latter cases have in common is either an overzealous investigator, or prosecutor. I understand that investigators are often pressured to close a case whether it be by the community or the victims family. I also understand that for prosecutors it is about the “win.” And, there are some among those in both professions that do not care how they reach their goal. It is these people that make me fear the justice system. They are like dog with a bone and will stop at nothing to get what they want. Once and injustice is made it can take years, even decades, to reverse, and that is only if the person is lucky. I have seen cases where there have been appeal after appeal made showing the unfairness at a trial, or new evidence has evolved, sometimes in the form of forensic science, where a prosecutor will fight to the bitter end to no undo a wrong. Thankfully from time to time we will see a judge who feels differently and if someone is really lucky they will get someone new in the position of investigator or prosecutor who will admit their predecessor was incorrect. Only on the very, very rare occasion have I seen an investigator or prosecutor admit that they themselves were wrong in the prosecution of someone.

With that being said, this case has even more issues than an unjust prosecution and wrongful conviction of one of the perpetrators. It also puts a bit of a spotlight on the issue of mental illness in children and what can be done. One of the other perpetrators in this case allegedly began showing odd signs at about the age of four. By the time she was eight her school had labeled her as “emotionally disturbed.” There are several problems when it comes to diagnosing and treating a child who may or may not have a mental illness. First, they are obviously often hard to diagnose for many reasons. I mean, how do you know a kid is not just being a brat quite often and will grow out of it when a few lessons are learned? Then the child reaches the teen years and if teens are known for anything it is for their moodiness and their lack of making decent decisions. But, that does not mean that there are not children that need help or are suffering from mental illness. Even when a parent makes every effort to get their child help they are often met with brick walls. Then, once the child turns eighteen the parents have little to no leverage in getting their child help. My research has indicated that this was the case in at least one of the perpetrators.

On the night of February 19, 2003 a neighbor pounded on Nola Charles' front door in Crozet Virginia when they noticed smoke coming from the home. Nola was separated from her husband, Dennis, who had once lived in the home. Nola lived in the home with her three children, fifteen year old Wendie, eleven year old Katie and three year old William. My research indicates that the neighbor noticed the smoke around 8:40 that night but I have to admit this time seems to be off to me, although it could be completely accurate. Wendie and Katie had bedrooms on the lower floor of the home and escaped the ensuing fire in their home. After firefighters arrived and were able to put the fire out they found the bodies of Nola and her son William. William had been found in his mother's room under some debris that had fallen as the roof collapsed from the fire. An autopsy determined that William died from smoke inhalation. Nola had been found face down in a bunk bed in which William generally slept. Her arms had been bound behind her with duct tape and her ankles were bound and attached to the bed posts. Her autopsy would show that she had been stabbed in the back, her throat had been cut and she was beaten with some sort of object before the room she was in was set on fire.

Investigators found no hairs or fingerprints in the home but within just two days they were questioning nineteen year old William “Rocky” Fugett and his fifteen year old sister, Jessica. The Fugett's lived across the street from Nola Charles. The Fugett family moved into the neighborhood in the mid-1990's and the Charles family moved in about eight or nine months later. The families seemed to bond because they both had two girls around the same ages. It seems unclear as to what exactly led investigators to start talking to Rocky and Jessica but talk to them they did. Initially the siblings denied any involvement in the crime but then they both seemed to confess. It appears that Jessica started first and she gave several different confessions over time. In her first confession she named a few other people being involved. It appears that police were able to determine that some of the people she named were not involved in the crime. However within a short period of time she named two others that for some reason investigators did believe were, or at least could have been involved. They were Robert Davis and Tygue Herrmann. When they got around to talking again to Rocky he all but confirmed these two names. Years later Rocky would say that when officers approached with with Davis and Herrmann's names he “liked the idea of sharing blame” and he did not like either one of those boys. There is little information on Herrmann's arrest but it was said that he was “held in a juvenile detention center for several months” before charges were dropped for lack of evidence. Tygue Herrmann had maintained his innocence the entire time insisting that he was not involved. But, Robert Davis was a bit of a different story.

It was just after midnight going into the early morning of February 22^nd when eighteen year old Robert Davis was arrested when he went to meet his mother at a gas station. One of the arresting officers was a resource officer from his school. Davis was taken to the police station and questioning began about two that morning. Despite being eighteen years old and legally an adult there seems to be ample evidence that Davis was not your average eighteen year old when it came to maturity and intelligence. According to his mother he had the “mind” of a fourteen or fifteen year old and was enrolled in special education classes throughout school. For the first several hours of questioning Davis denied involvement. He point out that he and Rocky Fugett were not just friends, they were more like enemies. Rocky Fugett had even been arrested in the past for beating up on Robert. When asked why Rocky would say he was involved Robert Davis was quick to tell them it was likely to get revenge on him or be mean to him. It has been said that in the first four hours of his interrogation Davis denied involvement seventy-eight times; twenty

-six times he denied being in the Charles' home; he insisted twenty-six times that he was telling the truth and he offered five times to take a lie detector test.

Despite all of this after just two hours in the interrogation he simply told them, “If you all are ready to put me in jail, put me in jail right now because I'm tired and I'm ready to go to sleep.” It has been alleged that at one point he actually did fall asleep in the interrogation room. Finally at about seven that morning Davis asks, “What can I say I did to get me out of this?” It appears that it was at this point that Robert gave a confession. Like many confessions that are obtained in this manner the first few rounds just simply did not go with what the investigators either believed happened or wanted to believe happened and so they worked it out until the confession was one that they could work with.

So now they had three people in custody who had confessed to the murder of Nola Charles and in the death of her son, William. Jessica had gone even further in her interviews. She had told police where to find the duct tape, knife and a twelve inch long steel bolt, all of which had been used in the murder. Prosecutors would come to believe that they had gained access into the home using a house key they had somehow stolen and that the trio had then disabled two of the smoke detectors in the home. After killing Nola, of which no true motive could ever be determined, they stole a total of six dollars and set her home on fire.

Whether prosecutors really believed then, or now that Jessica was the “ringleader” is questionable in my mind despite them proclaiming so. I question this only because she was the only one that took her case to trial. Rocky would plead guilty to two counts of first degree murder, arson, robbery and burglary. He was given a seventy-five year sentence. They attempted to get him to testify against Jessica and Robert Davis but he refused. That did not stop prosecutors from telling Davis that Rocky Fugett planned to testify though and despite the fact that he had almost immediately recanted his confession they continued with the pressure. The defense attorney believed his confession to be false and coerced and argued to keep it out of any trial. The judge however refused to dismiss the confession saying that according to Virginia law the confession was to stand and the jury was to decide if it was false, not the courts. In the end he took what is called an Alford Plea. I am sure you have heard of them, as they seem to be more and more common these days. It is a plea in which the defendant maintains their innocence but agrees that the prosecution has enough evidence to likely obtain a conviction. Davis was given a sentence of twenty-three years.

Jessica was fifteen at the time of the murder but prosecutors, again saying she was the “ringleader,” opted to try her as an adult. Twice she was found to be incompetent for trial due to what was said to be “mental problems.” Mental health experts classified her once again as emotionally disturbed and immature for her age. There was a lot of talk about the fact that she had practiced the Wicca religion (often referred to as the witch religion) and the fact that she wore a lot of black clothing and exhibited a lot of things associated with those in the Goth community. There is little information about her trial other than to say that she was found guilty on all charges including murder, arson and breaking and entering. She was given a sentence of 100 years.

Jessica's defense obviously attempted to rely much on her mental health status. It was said that at the age of four she began having what her parents called “staring spells” where she appeared to “leave reality” and be in her own world alone. Things apparently progressed and by the time she was fourteen she was claiming to have hallucinations. Now, much of the media information on this case surrounded the issues involving Robert Davis so it was difficult to find many more specifics surrounding Jessica. As is often the case the community at large have asked what was going on in the Fugett home that they raised two children willing to kill. But what they fail to realize is that they also likely had at least two mentally ill children. Prior to the murder Rocky had a slight juvenile record for fighting and trespassing but there is also a report that he had attempted suicide at least once. Mental health issues are most often hereditary and manifest differently in different people. The most important thing however is how it is treated both professionally and within the home. With all of the media information surrounding Davis I was unable to find just what may have been done and not done over the years for both Jessica and Rocky at that level. But, as I stated early on, sometimes even the most caring and diligent parents hit road blocks in getting care for their children. To add to this if Jessica was causing multiple issues in the home then her behavior was likely dominating the attention in the home while the other two children (I have no information on the other daughter) were in essence being ignored and not necessarily intentionally.

Over the years Robert Davis' lawyers continued to argue that his confession was false and coerced. They pointed to the interrogation tactics used to obtain the confession, including having an officer that Davis was familiar with through his school participate in the arrest. They alleged that gave him a false sense of security and believing the officer would be more on his side and made sure nothing happened to him. They argued that young people do not know that police are allowed to lie to them and so when an officer says they have evidence against them, they believe it even if they know they had not been at the scene of a crime. Other tactics used were in the timing of the arrest and the interrogation. Davis repeatedly stated he was tired and wanted to sleep but they continued to interrogate him throughout the night and early morning hours.

In 2006 Rocky Fugett first wrote a letter to Davis' attorney recanting his statement that Davis was at the scene of the crime in 2003. It was obviously believed by the defense and was investigated but by 2011 while Jessica had admitted to rattling off the names of people who were not at the scene, she still insisted that both Davis and Tygue Herrmann were there. She never could explain however why two boys in which hated her brother and her brother hated in return would have been present with her and her brother. In fact, the only thing it seems that Jessica and Rocky agreed upon was the fact that Jessica had been the one to kill Nola Charles. Finally in 2012 Jessica also recanted her statement about Robert Davis being present at the scene. Prosecutors were not going to take that seriously and of course they continued to argue that Davis was guilty. But, even still defense attorneys went to the Governor and asked for a pardon. It took a few years but in December of 2015 he was granted a conditional pardon. Basically it meant “we're going to let you out and investigate this even more and get back to you.” A year later the Governor gave him what is called an absolute pardon and declared him innocent of the crime. This means he became eligible for compensation through the state. If granted he was eligible for nearly $600,000 for the thirteen years that he served in prison. Before the Governor left office in January of 2018 he had enacted a two year budget and it was said that he allotted the money to Davis in this but as of May 2018 the state was debating on whether they had the funds.

For their part the Fugetts will remain in prison for some time to come. The Virginia Department of Corrections website is not one of the better ones. I cannot tell you if they have any parole dates or if even eligible. It only lets me know that an inmate is there and when their release date is set. This is generally their mandatory date meaning the state cannot keep them longer than this, although they can release them earlier. Rocky's date is not until 2069 and Jessica's is in the year 2090. Rocky has a chance possibly be alive upon release. In 2069 he will be 85 years old. Jessica however will be 101 years old. It is unlikely she will still be living.