The murder trial of lawyer Claud ‘Tex’ McIver continues Tuesday in Fulton County, Georgia. McIver is accused of murdering his wife Diane McIver on Sept. 25, 2016. He claims it was an accident. Watch live on the Law&Crime Network in the player above.
McIver has said that he was holding a gun while seated in the backseat of a car for protection as he rode with his wife and their friend Dani Jo Carter through what he felt was a dangerous neighborhood, with Carter driving. At some point, he claims, he fell asleep, and then awoke with a start and accidentally fired the weapon, shooting Diane through her seat in the process. Diane was taken to a local hospital. Tex’s defense claims that before she died, Diane said the shooting “was an accident.”
Carter took the stand on Tuesday, and her testimony took up much of the day. She began, by discussing her long-running friendship with Diane McIver before talking about how she spent the weekend of Sept. 25, 2016 with the McIvers at their ranch. Eventually, she talked about what happened on the trip home, and the fatal shooting.
Carter said that due to traffic, she pulled off of the highway into an area she didn’t recognize. She said Tex asked Diane to get him his gun. As she was driving, Carter said, she heard a bang, not knowing at first what it was. She then realized it was the gun, when Diane asked, “Tex! What did you do?” and Tex said that the gun went off.
Still, Carter didn’t realize what had happened, believing that the gun had fired downwards, based on where it was pointing when she turned around. She then heard Diane say, “Tex, you shot me.”
At that point, she drove them to a hospital, with Diane showing signs of getting worse and worse along the way. Carter said that when they were at the hospital, where Diane eventually died, Tex contacted his lawyer, and also told her to lie to police about why she was there. She said he instructed her to say she was at the hospital as a friend instead of being there when the shooting happened, so she wouldn’t be drawn into an investigation.
Carter’s testimony is expected to continue on Tuesday.
Stay with Law&Crime.com and the Law&Crime Network for continuing coverage of the trial.
[Image via WSB screengrab]