Delaware Supreme Court rejects Wilkerson appeal

The Delaware Supreme Court rejected arguments made by Randon Wilkerson suggesting that he killed Delmar Police Cpl. Keith Heacook while he was under the influence of drugs he did not know he was taking.

Wilkerson, 33, is serving two life sentences plus 212 years in prison for the April 2021 murder of Heacook. Wilkerson’s attorney, Patrick Collins, appealed the conviction in December 2023; much of Wilkerson’s appeal is based on a defense he was not able to introduce at trial.

That defense is that Wilkerson unknowingly ingested bath salts during a drug-fueled birthday party. According to the decision, Wilkerson was described as a “veteran” of the drug-taking process, spending $400 per day.

During the party on April 24-25, 2021, Wilkerson’s girlfriend injected him with a substance they thought was methamphetamine. Later, Wilkerson smoked crack, took cocaine and heroin, as well as drank vodka. 

According to witnesses, after taking these drugs, Wilkerson began behaving very erratically. Witnesses say Wilkerson claimed the methamphetamine was making him act this way. 

Around 5 a.m., according to the Supreme Court decision, the homeowner called the police. Heacook responded to the call alone. When Heacook entered the house, Wilkerson attacked him. After the attack, Wilkerson went across the street to the home of Steven and Judy Franklin. Wilkerson then attacked Steven. When Judy heard what was happening, she came out of her bedroom and Wilkerson attacked her. When Steven fought back, Wilkerson stopped his attack and left the house. Wilkerson went back to the original house and assaulted Heacook again.

Additional officers arrived at 5:48 a.m. Officers found Heacook unconscious and dragged him out of the house to perform CPR; however, Heacook was unresponsive. Heacook never regained consciousness and died three days later. 

Wilkerson was found walking around the backyard with blood on his hands. 

Wilkerson was transported to Delaware State Police Troop 5 in Bridgeville, where he was placed in a detention area. A digital tape recorder was positioned near him. According to both court testimony and the Supreme Court decision, Wilkerson admitted to killing Heacook.

Wilkerson was found to have methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl in his system, but the test did not screen for cathinones, commonly known as bath salts. 

Wilkerson was indicted on 15 charges, later upped to 16, including two counts of first-degree murder – as Heacook was a police officer, prosecutors were able to charge Wilkerson with two counts. 

During the discovery process in the lead-up to his trial, Wilkerson’s defense sought to develop an involuntary intoxication defense, based around the idea that when Wilkerson was injected with methamphetamine, he actually took bath salts. Bath salts act similar to cocaine but can be much more potent, creating psychological effects, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. 

Delaware Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz said since Wilkerson was voluntarily using illegal drugs at the time of the killing, he could not use the involuntary intoxication defense. During a one-day bench trial October 2023, Karsnitz found Wilkerson guilty of all 16 charges. 

In its ruling, the Supreme Court justices agreed with the Superior Court that Wilkerson could not present an involuntary intoxication defense, given he was already voluntarily using illegal drugs; however, the justices acknowledged there are some gray areas in Delaware law for cases where a defendant unknowingly uses an unlawful substance when they think they are using a lawful one.