Courtroom brawl overshadows Warrick double-murder trial

Before accused Valentine’s Day double-murderer Shaun Warrick’s preliminary hearing yesterday, one victim’s aunt declared, “He ain’t paying his way out of this one. I want to be at the execution.” Bernadette Archie would soon be accused herself of inciting a courtroom brawl that landed her and two others in custody on contempt-of-court charges. The melee, during which someone tried to gouge Warrick’s mother’s eye out, delayed the hearing more than three hours.

When Warrick declared his mother hired a new attorney, Court Crier Richard Brandt went through a secured door to find her. Archie jumped up, pointed to the woman sitting next to her and words were exchanged. Someone threw a large pocketbook that "hit her in the side of the face." As no fewer that 10 people descended, someone swung a cane and another grabbed the victim’s wig and eyelid. Her lower lip looked to be cut.

Before police and Sheriff’s deputies arrived, Brandt and co-worker Bill Wickert jumped into the crowd and protected her. Warrick was behind bulletproof glass yelling, “Get my mom, get my mom” while a deputy cuffed him to prevent him from getting to the court gallery. Judge David Sauter was escorted from Courtroom 306.

“What happened here was criminal, whether in a courtroom or on the street,” said Sauter, who held Archie, Katrina Moody, Barbara Ivery on $25,000 bail.

Suspect held

Warrick, 27, from Olney, was held for trial in the Valentine’s Day murders of ex-girlfriend Tiffany Barnhill and her cousin Marcedes Ivery. Both were found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in separate bedrooms of a home near Oxford Circle.