POPLARVILLE — The trial for a former Columbia man accused of leading a plot to kidnap and extort a prominent Columbia businessman began Monday.
Victor Mitchell, 45, faces up to life in prison on an array of charges related to an alleged plan against Tommy Duff that law enforcement foiled in 2016 after one of the alleged conspirators tipped off Duff and officers.
Monday was mostly spent on jury selection with opening statements at the end of the day at the Pearl River County Courthouse in Poplarville, and testimony began Tuesday.
District Attorney Hal Kittrell described to jurors details of a conspiracy he said was intended to humiliate and extort money from Duff before a man named Willie Lampley informed police and Duff about it, leading to the arrest of Mitchell and two alleged co-conspirators.
Mitchell’s attorney, Robert Whitacre of Hattiesburg, said in his opening statement that Lampley was actually behind the scheme, first in a plan to “hustle money” from Mitchell and then from Duff.
Mitchell is being tried on multiple charges: Conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit sexual battery and conspiracy to commit extortion are one count. The second count is attempted kidnapping, count three is attempted sexual battery and count four is attempted extortion.
Mitchell is a former Columbia resident who had moved to Sumrall before his arrest in 2016. He has remained jailed since that time.
The trial was moved from Lamar County to Pearl River County based on a change-of-venue request from Mitchell. Circuit Judge Claiborne “Buddy” McDonald, who is presiding over the trial, ruled in 2018 that Duff stems from a prominent and influential family and has approximately the same status as an elected public official because he was appointed by the governor to the state College Board. Tommy Duff and his brother Jim co-own Duff Capital Investors, a Columbia-based conglomerate that includes Southern Tire Mart and other companies.
The day started Monday morning with 150 potential jurors, and it was just before 4 p.m. when a jury of 10 men and four women was selected (two are alternates).
Opening statements were brief. First, District Attorney Hal Kittrell said everything started with Mitchell driving a Porsche that wrecked with a KLLM truck on March 29, 2016. KLLM Transport Services is owned by Duff Capital Investors.
In a meeting, according to the prosecution, Mitchell told Tommy Duff he wanted Duff to buy him out of his business but Duff wouldn’t do it.
Kittrell said Howard Cameron, who is also charged in the case, and Mitchell have been gambling before in casinos and Cameron has witnessed Mitchell lose $40,000 to $60,000 in a night. The prosecution stated Cameron and Mitchell were talking in April 2016, and Mitchell offered a job to Cameron for $150,000 to help him with a man he was having trouble with. That man was Tommy Duff, according to Kittrell.
Kittrell said Mitchell told Cameron and another man charged in the alleged conspiracy, Glen Evans, that he wanted to kidnap Duff at his home in Lamar County. They planned to sexually assault Duff and wanted to humiliate and extort him, Kittrell said.
Kittrell said the basic scheme of kidnapping, sexual assault and extortion never changed but some of the details did.
Lampley was involved in the situation but contacted Hattiesburg police and Duff on Nov. 18, 2016, and advised Duff there was a plot to kidnap him, according to Kittrell. At that point various law enforcement agencies become involved. On Nov. 19, Kittrell said the plot was supposed to take place imminently, and Mitchell, Cameron and Evans were arrested in Hattiesburg. In the car that was supposed to be used in the kidnapping there were zip ties, ski masks, a sex toy and other masks.
Trials for Evans and Cameron are pending, and they are expected to testify this week.
Whitacre described Mitchell in his opening statement as “a hard-working man; he’s prosperous; he was successful; he owned his own business. He did well enough to make large bets at the casino and was doing well enough to afford a Porsche.”
Whitacre said the prosecution is making the case about a car accident but said that is not true.
“What the case is really about is career criminal Willie Lampley, who is going to get on that stand in an orange prisoner’s jumpsuit. He’s going to admit that the whole purpose that he had to interact with Victor Mitchell was so that he could hustle him out of money,” Whitacre said. “And when he was unable to hustle money out of Victor, he concocted this scheme to try to hustle money out of one of the richest men in the state of Mississippi.”
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Special Agent Leo Clemons with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was the first witness Tuesday morning.
Clemons said he received a phone call from his supervisor at 12:47 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, stating a report had been received about a kidnapping and attempt to murder Tommy Duff.
The call had been made by Willie Lampley, who also made a second call to the Hattiesburg Police Department. In addition to the two calls to law enforcement, Lampley also made a call to Duff. Clemons said Lampley signed an Electronic Intercept Consent Form, which was introduced into evidence. The form was to allow all further communications to be recorded during Lampley’s conversations with Mitchell.
The phone Lampley received calls and texts from came from a cellphone owned by Tara Mitchell, the defendant’s former wife.
Clemons testified law enforcement officers wanted Lampley to stall the plan until that Monday, but Lampley advised around 7 p.m. that he was unable to stall.
Clemons testified a group met at McDonald’s in Oak Grove off U.S. 98. The group included Clemons, Lampley, Lamar County Sheriff’s Investigator Jack Rayner, Duff and a couple of Duff’s associates. Eventually the group moved to the Money Man Pawn Shop parking lot. While there two of 12 total phone calls were recorded.
After the two phone calls, the group moved to the Hattiesburg Police substation in Lamar County to assemble a tactical team. Clemons testified Lampley was still with him.
At 1 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, Victor Mitchell was riding in his green Jeep with Glen Evans in the passenger seat, according to Clemons’ testimony. Mitchell arrived at the predetermined spot in Glendale, a Hattiesburg subdivision, followed by Howard Cameron in a white Chevrolet Malibu. At the scene Mitchell, Evans and Cameron were arrested, Clemons testified.
The vehicles were towed to the Lamar County barn and were searched after receiving a search warrant for both vehicles. In Mitchell’s Jeep there was three cellphones, which all belonged to Mitchell, Clemons said.
Clemons testified that Cameron told him Mitchell had given him money to purchase a cellphone that was used in addition to Cameron’s personal phone.
Clemons also testified that both Lampley and Cameron said the whole scheme evolved from the car accident of March 29, 2016, between Mitchell and a truck from KLLM, and Mitchell was not happy with the settlement. A search warrant revealed inside Mitchell’s Jeep duct tape, three cellphones, a ski mask and gloves. In Cameron’s Malibu, Clemons said there was found a 9mm Glock, a small .22-caliber gun, black gloves, a black hoodie, zip ties, two black sleep masks, pirate facial hair kit, fake teeth, rap star fake hair mustache and goatee, black gloves, a receipt from Oct. 7, 2016 for Party City in Gulfport, a bag of ammunition, pre-loaded zip ties and a sex toy.
The trial continued past press deadlines. Updates will be posted online.
