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Updated 03/21/2013 07:21 PM

State: Norwood no stranger to violence

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Mark Alan Norwood is on trial for the 1986 bludgeoning death of Christine Morton, but that isn’t the only murder associated with the 58-year-old defendant.

Prosecutors plan to submit details of Norwood’s criminal history as evidence in his murder trial, which is now underway in San Angelo. The list of offenses summarizes a life of crime spanning three states over nearly three decades.

A previous mugshot of Norwood out of Tennessee.
A previous mugshot of Norwood out of Tennessee.
Under what’s called “extraneous offenses” is the 1988 murder of Debra Baker in Travis County. Baker, like Morton, was beaten to death with a blunt object in her North Austin home. Norwood was indicted in November of last year for her death.

Also on the list is the 1980 death of David Fox in Davidson County, Tennessee. The document says Norwood “knowingly caused the death of Fox by matter and means unknown.”

Back in Travis County, ten years later, the document says Norwood attempted the capital murder of Debra Kay Forston, when he struck her in the head with a piece of firewood.

Norwood’s other offenses are varied, including several burglaries, resisting arrest, cocaine possession, obstructing a police officer, carrying a prohibited weapon and bodily injury.

The evidence also lists Norwood's previous convictions, including several theft charges, possession of a prohibited weapon and resisting an officer.

In 2011 Norwood was linked to the death of Christine Morton by DNA testing of a bloody bandana found near her home. Her husband, Michael Morton, was then exonerated of her murder after spending nearly 25 years in prison.

"Everybody deserves a fair trial, even Norwood,” Michael Morton said Thursday outside of the courtroom. “I hope justice is truly served here.

Norwood was arrested in fall 2011 in Bastrop, where he was living with his mother and washing dishes in a restaurant.