DA: Teen hid bodies in manure pile

Foreman's family slain at Sam Donaldson's ranch

Cody Posey was 14 when he allegedly shot his father, stepmother and stepsister to death.

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ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico (AP) -- A teenager charged with murdering his family on newsman Sam Donaldson's ranch was a cold-blooded killer who methodically shot his father, stepmother and stepsister, then hid their bodies in a manure pile, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.

In her closing argument, prosecutor Janice Schryer urged jurors to convict Cody Posey of first-degree murder despite defense claims that the 16-year-old suffered years of physical and mental abuse.

"It's not a case about abuse," Schryer said. "It's a case about cold-blooded, intentional murder perpetrated by Cody Posey."

Schryer described Posey's parents as loving and said they had high expectations of the boy, but said he didn't like ranch life and "took the opportunity to relieve himself of those expectations and that life."

The jury was expected to begin deliberating the case Monday following the defense closing arguments in the three-week-old trial.

Posey was arrested a few days after the bodies of his father and stepmother, Paul and Tryone Posey, and his stepsister, 13-year-old Mary Lee Schmid, were found on Donaldson's Chavez Canyon Ranch in July 2004. The elder Posey was the ranch's manager.

On a videotape shown to the jury, Posey tearfully said he shot his stepmother first so she would not call authorities, then killed his father and Mary Lee so she wouldn't tell on him.

Dozens of witnesses testified that the boy was hit, called names and isolated from friends by his family. And on the stand, Posey claimed his father burned him with a metal welding rod after he refused to have sex with his stepmother the night before the slayings.

But prosecutors contend the teen planned the slayings, then lied and tried to turn suspicion away from himself. Prosecution witnesses also testified they never saw a mark on Posey's body.

Defense attorney Gary Mitchell has said the boy -- 14 at the time of the killings -- told teachers, family and friends about the alleged abuse but the state failed to help him.

"This abuse against this child needs to end and that means the abuse by the state of New Mexico in prosecuting it, too," Mitchell said.

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