NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Jurors sat transfixed for two hours Tuesday morning as they listened to a Montgomery County detective read hundreds of text messages between Gilbert Newton III and 18-year-old Morgan McCaffery near the end of their relationship and ultimately the girl’s death.
Newton, now 19, is accused of fatally stabbing McCaffery more than 30 times at the Meadowbrook SEPTA Station last summer.
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The defense concedes that Newton killed McCaffery, but they argue he met her at the Abington station — armed with two knives from his mother’s kitchen — with the intent of hurting himself, not her.
Shown on the second day of the murder trial, the texts between the couple read like a scorned teenager, heartbroken over a girl for breaking up with him. But some messages, including some to Newton’s own mother, show signs of violence on the horizon.
About a month before he killed McCaffery — and not long after he sent her memes of how sorry he was — Newton sent her a text that said, “I honestly hope you die, I just want to stab you in the neck repeatedly.”
He added that she should keep her head on a swivel because “I wanna stab you in the neck repeatedly.”
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Weeks before the killing, he also texted his mother: “I want to stab this girl in the neck, dude.”
In more messages to his mom, Newton expressed how he really wants to kill her and he’s “gonna stab her in the neck 57 times.”
The day before the killing, Newton texted his mother about a photo McCaffery posted online of her with another boy.
The morning of July 27, 2020, the two met in the overflow parking lot of the train station so McCaffery could give Newton back a sweatshirt and some other belongings. Prosecutors argue Newton planned the murder.
After the stabbing, Newton told his mother he killed McCaffery. He tried to call McCaffery’s mother, but she didn’t answer.
Breakup turns deadly
Newton took the stand in his own defense Tuesday afternoon.
According to Newton, he wanted to see if McCaffery still cared about him. He brought the two knives to the meetup because, he explained, he was going to stab himself in front of her to see if she would stop him.
However, when McCaffery acknowledged she had already moved on and was dating someone else, Newton called her a name. He said she slapped him and spit on him, then he started stabbing.
He said he doesn’t remember most of it.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Kathleen McLaughlin asked Newton why a couple weeks before the killing, he sent his mother the violent texts about McCaffery. He acknowledged the texts look bad, but he testified that he was upset and said things he didn’t mean.
Closing arguments will be held first thing Wednesday morning. Then, the case will be in the hands of the jury.