The rest of the story

Spurned lover convicted of murdering latest rival

By BEVERLY MEDLYN
The Arizona Daily Star

What the defense characterized as a “love story” and the prosecution called a “classic triangle linked by alcohol” ended yesterday with Hugh Langtree Moose’s conviction for second-degree murder for shooting a man who was in bed with his girlfriend.

The Superior Court jury deliberated five hours before finding Moose guilty of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and endangerment for killing Larry Banks and endangering the 24-year-old woman’s life. He will be sentenced Oct. 27 by Judge Alice Truman.

This is the second time Moose, 55, wound up in trouble with the law because of his passionate feelings for a woman. Fifteen years ago, he achieved notoriety as one of the few men charged in Pima County’s modern history as a result of a gun duel.

In that case, Moose was accused of attempted murder for trying to “settle things” with Kenneth Lee Darris, who admitted having an affair with Moose’s wife. Testimony then revealed that the two men chose their weapons — .38-caliber revolvers — stood back to back, paced off, turned and fired. Darris was wounded.

After the duel, Moose drive Darris to the hospital for treatment, which no doubt had some bearing on the jury’s finding for acquittal, as did Darris’ refusal to fault Moose for the injury. The Moose’s have since divorced.

The jurors in Truman’s courtroom weren’t told of the dueling incident because it was deemed to prejudicial. But unbeknownst to them, they listed to the testimony of the one-time victim in that case. Ken Darris testified on Moose’s behalf.

Outside the courtroom, Darris said he and Moose had been the best of friends for 20 years. “If I’d had any sense that duel would never have happened,” he said. Instead of severing their relationship, the duel “brought us closer together,” he said.

Like Darris in the 1968 trial, the chief witness in the Banks trial also appeared uncomfortable in her role as a victim. Some of her answers to prosecutor Mike Owen’s questions seemed flip, and she explained her partial memory loss of some events by saying she was “drunk most of the time.”

Moose and the woman testified that they were alcoholics, and the woman said Banks also was a heavy drinker before his death.

According to their testimony, Moose and the woman had lived together for about five years before he was sentenced in May 1982 to six months in prison for possessing paper in the shape of U.S. currency — a less serious charge than counterfeiting.

While he was in prison, the woman took up with Banks. Two weeks before his release in August 1982, the woman told Moose that she didn’t want to live with him when he got out.

Despondent, Moose went on a drinking binge upon his release. Over the next six weeks, Moose and the woman conducted an “on-and-off” relationship. Sometimes she lived with Banks; on occasion, she returned to Moose.

Toward the end of that period, Moose and the woman resumed their relationship and went on the wagon. On Oct. 16, Moose asked to marry her. On Oct. 17, the woman gathered her clothes, said she was going to do the laundry, and called Moose at 5 p.m. to say she wasn’t coming back, testimony revealed.

Moose testified that he began drinking heavily in an attempt to go to sleep and blot out the hurt. “But I started thinking I couldn’t let it go like that — so easy.” So he loaded a gun and his 15-year-old daughter in a truck and set out to find his girlfriend.

When he didn’t find her at a local bar, Moose asked his daughter to direct him to Banks’ house. Moose insisted that he entered the dark house at 10 p.m. only to talk to the woman — not to extract retribution. He made his way through the house to the bedroom.

“When I flicked the light on I was standing at the foot of the bed. Larry and (the woman) were in bed. Larry opened his eyes and raised his head, and everything just burst. I shot him, turned around and walked out,” Moose testified. Banks, 42, was shot five times.

Moose’s daughter followed instructions to wait outside with the motor running. He slid in on the passenger’s side and had her drive home. On the way, he disposed of the spent cartridges and the gun. Minutes after the two arrived home, sheriff’s deputies came to arrest Moose, according to testimony.

Owen asked the jury to convict Moose of first-degree murder, arguing that several factors indicated he had premeditated the shooting.

Public Defender Michael Addis contended that manslaughter was the appropriate verdict, saying that his client was acting in the heat of passion and didn’t set out to kill Banks.

The sentencing range on the burglar and second-degree-murder charges in seven to 21 years. Endangerment carried a term of 1½ to three years.