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Buckner bound over for trial in fatal shooting of Chambersburg man

Police says man admitted to shooting, claiming it was accidental

The Pennsylvania Herald-Mail

Tuesday November 11, 2008

By Don Aines

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – While being interviewed about the August killing of Timothy Aaron Short, V’Cetres Buckner folded a photo of Short’s body into a small square and admitted to the shooting, implying that it was accidental, according to testimony Monday at Buckner’s preliminary hearing.

Buckner’s defense attorney argued before Magisterial District Justice Gary Carter that no direct evidence exists that his client killed Short other than his confession. Carter ordered Buckner bound over for court on charges including criminal homicide and robbery.

On Aug. 17, Buckner, 18, of 207 Larch Ave., was taken into custody and questioned in the Aug. 6 death of Short, 42, of Chambersburg. Detective Scott Mummert testified that near the end of the interview, Buckner was told the suspected murder weapon was being tested for fingerprints.

Buckner, who pushed away the crime scene photo of Short several times during the interview, folded it over several times and put it in his pocket, Mummert testified.

“He said he wished it wouldn’t have happened,” Mummert testified. The detective testified Buckner said Short rode up to him on a motorcycle asking to buy crack cocaine and Buckner told Short to meet him on Hemlock Circle, where he robbed him.

Buckner told police he was taking Short’s wallet when the handgun discharged, Mummert testified. The interview was videotaped, he testified.

Short’s body was found Aug. 6 after daylight. Police estimated he was shot in the face sometime after 2 a.m.

The handgun had been reported stolen from a vehicle at a residence on East McKinley Street on Aug. 4, police said.

On Aug. 16, the gun was found inside a backpack when a woman was pulled over for a traffic violation, police said. She told police the backpack belonged to her boyfriend, Derrick Wimberley of Chambersburg, a convicted felon.

Wimberley told police he bought the gun on Aug. 14 for $300 at a house on South Hackberry Drive. He picked Buckner and another man from a photo lineup as the men who sold it to him, Mummert testified.

On cross-examination by defense attorney Justin McShane, Mummert testified police told Wimberley he was being looked at as a possible suspect in Short’s murder. After that, Wimberley told how he came to possess the gun, Mummert testified.

Mummert also testified a juvenile tipped off police after the murder that Buckner might have a handgun. Police had the South Hackberry Drive house under surveillance when Buckner and another man met with Wimberley, he testified.

No fingerprints were found on the gun, Mummert testified, and police have not yet received results of ballistics tests.

McShane said there was no physical or eyewitness evidence placing Buckner at the murder scene other than his client’s confession. Mummert testified the statements of Wimberley and others accused in the theft and sale of the gun corroborated the confession.

“He was doing wonderful … He was so proud of that apartment,” Martha Short said Monday of her son. Timothy Short had a criminal record, but had gotten a job and was living with his teenage son at the time he was killed, she said.

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