Nostrom given life times 2 in bus garage murders

Sep. 20—John Warren Nostrom, 77, will die in prison, completing the two life sentences he received for the murders of his estranged wife, Joy J. Nostrom, 58, and her boyfriend, Mark Gunter, 54.

It took a Cumberland County jury just over 30 minutes to unanimously agree Nostrom was guilty of the two homicides he was charged with in the indictment.

State law for life in prison with possibility of parole requires 51 years served before parole can be considered.

In the end, it was his own rambling statement to investigators in the early morning hours the day after the shooting — and his stalking actions — that proved to be his death knell.

The three-day trial — started on Sept. 14, the third anniversary of the shootings — was one of the best-tried cases in recent county history and pitted Assistant District Attorneys Philip Hatch and Amanda Worley against veteran defense attorneys Sam Hudson and Howard Upchurch.

In closing arguments, Worley's open summation of the trial was followed by Hudson and Upchurch. Because state law places the burden of proving the charges on prosecutors, Hatch closed final arguments.

"If he could not have her, no one else can have her," Worley opened her closing. She recapped evidence presented during the trial and reminded the jury there is no time limit on premeditation. There did not need to be a long-time planning and scheming period.

If Nostrom had a design to kill in his mind, the premeditation could be moments leading to the act.

If the jury found this to be true, it removed the defense of the shootings being "a crime of passion."

Hudson contended the state had not proven premeditation and suggested the jury might lean toward a lesser-included offense based on a self-defense theory. In the killing of Gunter it was Nostrom's mental state. In the killing of Joy Nostrom, it was an act of passion.

"I don't know why I did that ... I really don't," Hudson quoted Nostrom's statement to investigators. "Since she left me my head has not been screwed on right ... I went nuts."

Upchurch told the jury there were two issues to overcome in proving premeditation. He noted that Gunter — who was shot first — weighed 227 pounds vs. the 100 pounds Nostrom weighed. Nostrom also 20 years older than Gunter. And, Nostrom was a rational man acting irrationally.

"He never told anyone he was going to kill anyone ... he tried to kill himself," Upchurch reminded the jury. "Is that the act of a rational man?"

In reference to Joy Nostrom, Upchurch told the jury of a saying his grandmother would tell him: "Where pleasure is to be had, danger lurks."

Upchurch suggested to the jury Nostrom shot Gunter out of fear as he approached Nostrom's van, and he shot Joy Nostrom because of the betrayal in a 32-year-old marriage aggravated by what he said was her flaunting her new relationship.

Hatch tossed aside his original summation to the jury and took up the theme Upchurch had moments earlier presented.

"Danger lurked," Hatch began his summation, "when Nostrom saw his wife with Mark Gunter at Romo's [restaurant] in June."

Danger lurked three months later when Nostrom gave a friend all his guns but one — a .380 semi-automatic handgun he kept in the console of his Chevrolet mini van.

Danger lurked the morning of the shooting when Nostrom followed Gunter and Joy Nostrom into the Justice Center parking lot.

And, Hatch told the jury, danger lurked when Nostrom followed his estranged wife and Gunter into the parking lot of the school bus maintenance garage off Genesis Rd.

"The only person who had a gun was the one who was not supposed to have one," Hatch told the jury. "And, did you notice in the interview? He never asked how she [Joy Nostrom] was doing."

The trial began Tuesday with the morning being dedicated to selecting a jury of 14 persons. At the conclusion of the trial, two jurors were randomly chosen as alternates and dismissed from deliberating the case.

At 2:10 p.m., Brooke Golden, a deputy clerk with the Cumberland County Clerk's Office, was called to testify. The purpose of her taking the stand was to verify a certified copy of an order of protection Joy Nostrom obtained against her husband on Aug. 13, 2018. It was one month before her death.

Next, Ruthie Potter was called to the stand to verify a certified copy of a divorce filing in the Clerk and Master's Office. Nostrom sued Joy Nostrom for divorce in August 2018, about three weeks before the fatal shootings.

Kevin Joel Padgett, owner of Plateau Truck and Tractor located adjacent to the school bus garage parking lot, testified that parking lot surveillance video recorded the day of the shooting came from his camera.

The video runs sweeping scans of the tractor business parking lot but shows the nearby school bus garage parking lot. The CD of the recording was played to the jury and shows Joy Nostrom's red Dodge Neon entering the parking lot followed shortly by Nostrom's mini van.

Tractor store customer Eddie Pugh was the last witness to testify on Tuesday. He had just returned a rental unit and was walking across the parking lot to his pickup with his son when he heard the first shot.

Pugh told his son to run and then approached the bus garage parking lot to find a man lying by a white van that had the door open. He saw someone walk around a parked bus, heard a woman scream followed by two additional shots. He told others who had run toward the shooting to get help.

"It happened so fast," Pugh testified. "It was done ... it was over."

After the jury left for the day, Judge Gary McKenzie reported that an emergency hearing was held Monday afternoon in the case after prosecutors found a background check in a Crossville Police Department file showing that Gunter had changed his name to Mark Wagoner.

Gunter had a record of convictions for felonious assault on a police officer, felony assault on a government official and felon in possession of a gun.

The prosecutors did not know the records were in the file and when discovered, were shared with defense lawyers as required by state rules of evidentiary procedure. Defense attorneys would be allowed to use this information as a reason why Nostrom could have feared Gunter.

However, there was never any testimony that Nostrom was aware of the name change and the convictions.

Wednesday morning, school bus mechanic and driver Wayne Upchurch was the first witness, testfying he was in his supervisor's office when gunshots were heard.

Upchurch (no relationship known to attorney Howard Upchurch) said he thought at first a tire blew out and he went to a window to look outside.

He said he saw legs on the ground beside a school bus, went outside and saw another body lying about ten feet away from a van.

He went to check on the man lying near the van at which time he observed bodies — a man and a woman. Beside the second man was a gun.

Upchurch said he marked the spot where he found the gun with his shoe and them moved it away from the man out of precaution for his and other's safety.

Photos of the crime scene were used to show the positions of the bodies. The covered body of Joy Nostrom was seen in the photo.

Becky Reed, a 22-year employee at the bus garage, also heard the gunshot followed by others and told another office person to call 911 as she ran out the back door to see what was happening.

She also testified that she had told Nostrom to not come to the school bus garage area after learning of the order of protection, and she quoted him as responding, "That won't be a problem."

Under questioning from Upchurch, Reed noted there were no signs posted banning the public from being on the property and that she did not see interaction between the three individuals prior to the shooting.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jason Legge was the next witness called, and a recorded interview by himself and former TBI Agent Jason Locke was played.

The recording shows a rambling Nostrom commenting freely about his version of what led up to the shooting and his self-admission he was the shooter. Locke testified Nostrom wanted to control the conversation and that he had a hard time steering Nostrom back to the shooting incident.

At one point, Nostrom told the agents, "I want to tell the whole story."

During reading of Nostrom's right to not make a statement, referred to a Miranda warning, Nostrom interrupted and/or talked over the agent, the recording showed.

At one point Nostrom told the agents, "My God, I never thought I would be in this situation."

Nostrom blamed his estranged wife with placing him in bankruptcy, hiding a 2011 Hyundai at a residence in Durham, NC, and stealing his pickup truck from a local garage where repairs were being made. This took place the morning of the shootings.

Crossville Police responded to the call of a stolen vehicle but on learning the circumstances and having had contact with Joy Nostrom, told Nostrom the pickup was common property and since the divorce was not final giving him ownership, a stolen report could not be taken.

"She got in with a bad crowd," Nostrom said at one point. "I don't know what else to say."

Nostrom said he was in need of help during this time period but complained, "I've been asking for help but no one wants to help me down here." The Nostroms moved to Lake Tansi in the early 2000s from New York.

Nostrom was asked about a June 2018 confrontation between himself, Joy Nostrom and Gunter that took place at Romo's Mexican Restaurant on N. Main St.

Nostrom said he saw Joy Nostrom's car in the parking lot and went inside to talk to her.

When he spotted the couple having a meal together, Nostrom approached Gunter and told him, "Excuse me, that's my wife."

Gunter responded, telling Nostrom if he did not leave Gunter would call police.

During the interview, Nostrom told the agents he could not get the image of his wife and Gunter together in the restaurant out of his head. "Every time I closed my eyes I would see them," he said.

On the morning of the shooting, Nostrom followed the two into the Justice Center parking lot that morning. He claimed he was leaving the Speedway convenience store on Genesis Rd. when he passed the couple in Joy Nostrom's car as the couple turned into the school bus garage parking lot.

Nostrom said he did a U-turn and followed them, stopping near the parked school buses. Nostrom claimed Gunter approached his van in a fast gait and that he shot him.

"I didn't know what he was going to do," Nostrom said.

Nostrom then exited his van, approached his estranged wife and "I hit her."

Legge testified he asked Nostrom if he struck her in the head with the gun.

Nostrom replied, "No. I shot her."

Legge testified investigators at the scene found the three with gunshot wounds and a fourth bullet hole in a school bus. Only three bullet casings were found at the scene, and this conflicted with testimony from Pugh and other witnesses who said they heard three shots.

The final state witness was forensic pathologist and medical examiner Dr. Gulpreet Singh Bowman, who works for Forensic Management, a company contracted with the state medical examiner's office.

Bowman conducted the autopsies on Joy Nostrom and Gunter.

Joy Nostrom was shot once in the head with the bullet penetrating the skull in the area of the brain that controls breathing.

Her death was within moments and cause of death listed as homicide.

Gunter was shot once in the chest that broke upper rib bones and pierced the carotid artery.

That artery controls blood flow to the brain, and the interruption of that flow results in the brain not receiving oxygen. Death quickly follows. The cause of death was also listed as homicide.

Day two of the trial ended with Upchurch making a motion for a judgment of acquittal, telling McKenzie the state failed to prove its case of premeditation and that there was proof the shooting of Gunter was self-defense.

McKenzie denied that motion, saying it was up to the jury to decide those issues but did say a jury instruction on self-defense would be given.

The third and final day of the trial began with Upchurch entering a complete set of medical records concerning the medications Nostrom was given by the flight crew and at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga when he was treated for his self-inflicted head wound.

Upchurch announced he would not be calling scheduled witness Jack Daniels, a lay-preacher and friend of Nostroms. Upchurch said much of what Daniels would testify to would not be admissible.

He would also not be calling Nostrom's friend, Ed Jones, who operates a service station at Old Lantana Rd. and West Ave. Upchurch said Jones was in General Sessions Court that morning on an unrelated charge and on advice of his attorney, Cynthia Fields Davis, would invoke his right to not testify because of any potential self-incrimination.

It was Jones to whom Nostrom gave all but one of his guns when ordered to surrender them, and it was from Jones' parking lot that Nostrom's pickup was taken. Jones is not implicated in the homicide case.

Upchurch then announced Nostrom would be invoking his right to not testify.

Defense attorneys then entered into evidence a photo of Gunter and Joy Nostrom found displayed in her Birchwood Apartments residence.

Following closing arguments, McKenzie told the jury they could consider the indicted charges of first-degree murder and lesser included charges of second-degree murder, criminal reckless homicide, reckless manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

In the case of Gunter, the jury could also consider whether his fatal shooting was an act of self-defense by Nostrom.

The jury left the courtroom Thursday at 12:22 p.m. and ate lunch provided by the court. After a smoke and restroom break, the jury sat down at 12:58 p.m. to begin deliberations. At 1:27 p.m., the jury indicated they had arrived at a verdict.

The jury unanimously found Nostrom guilty of first-degree murder of Joy Nostrom and Mark Gunter. The verdict carries an automatic life in prison with parole. Parole cannot be considered, under present law, until 51 years are served.

The law also requires a sentencing hearing to determine if the two sentences will be served as one or if they will be served consecutively.

This could be a moot issue if prosecutors and defense attorneys reach an agreement on how the sentences will be served.

Defense attorneys have 30 days to file notice of appeal.

McKenzie set a sentencing hearing for Jan. 19. He also revoked Nostrom's bond and ordered him into the custody of the Department of Corrections.

Nostrom has been incarcerated since the day of the shooting, unable to post bond. He showed no emotion when the verdicts were read, lowering his head for a moment before staring straight ahead.

McKenzie ended the day by complimenting attorneys for the state and defense for their vigorous presentation of the case.

"It was a well-tried case," McKenzie said. "It is what makes our system work."

Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com