Hackett found guilty in stabbing murder

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Prosecutors told jurors in the closing arguments of the David Hackett aggravated-murder trial that phone records and DNA prove he was with the victim when she was killed and he raped her.

Jurors agreed, convicting Hackett, 54, who was acting as his own lawyer, on charges of aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping for the Oct. 13, 2013, stabbing death of Collena Carpenter, 30, of Homeworth in Columbiana County. She was stabbed 81 times.

Hackett, of New York Avenue, told jurors the DNA evidence was inconclusive and so were the phone records.

Jurors took about three hours Tuesday to find him guilty, delivering their verdicts before Judge John Durkin in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the afternoon.

Hackett was stoic when the verdicts were read, and he was handcuffed in the courtroom for the first time during the trial. Because he was acting as his own lawyer, he was not handcuffed in front of jurors.

A sentencing date for Hackett has not been set.

Connie Carpenter, Collena’s mother, and several family members and friends embraced and cried after the verdicts were read. Connie Carpenter said she is glad the ordeal is finally over.

“I just want to thank God for giving us the strength to get through this,” she said. She thanked family and friends for their prayers and support.

During her closing argument Tuesday morning, Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa said Collena Carpenter was in debt to Hackett for drugs. She said the case is one that shows the perils of addiction where an addict is often around dangerous and unstable people.

Cantalamessa said phone records show the victim’s phone and Hackett’s were in the same location in the hours before and during the murder. She said records show the two exchanged 367 texts over a 20-day period, and after Collena Carpenter was killed, the texts stopped.

“All of a sudden she’s dead,” Cantalamessa said. “She doesn’t text him at all.”

Carpenter’s blood was found on a knife at the crime scene that belonged to Hackett and on a pair of jeans found in his home when police searched it. Her blood also was found on the steering wheel of Hackett’s van.

Hackett said his DNA was not found on the knife at the scene and the phone records could not be trusted. He said the real killer can be found by lifting DNA from the murder weapon.

Connie Carpenter said her daughter struggled with her addiction, which started when she was treated for back and shoulder pain. She said her daughter was a very loving person who enjoyed music and her addiction never took away her loving personality.

“Her son was her whole world – and her dog,” Connie Carpenter said. “She had a heart the size of Texas.”