The defense rested Tuesday and, after a few routine instructions Wednesday morning, the jury deliberated the fate of three remaining defendants accused of killing V.I. Police Officer Wendell Williams in 2001 all morning and afternoon, and the jury had not reached a verdict by the end of the day.
Deliberations continue at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Jose G. Ventura, 43, of Estate Whim; Maximiliano Velasquez, 40, of Estate Clifton Hill; and Jose M. Rivera Jr., 39, are on trial for the June 2001 murder of Williams. V.I. Superior Court Judge Darryl Donohue acquitted two other defendants Monday on the grounds that the evidence is insufficient to support a conviction. (See related links below)
Wendell Williams disappeared on June 13, 2001.
The main evidence in the case is an eyewitness account of killing from a woman who had two children with defendant Velasquez while underage.
That witness, Theresa Coogle, testified she went to dinner with Velasquez the night of the murder, around June 14, 2001, to celebrate their engagement and then dropped him off with friends. She said that Velasquez called her later and asked her to pick him up, directing her to come to Grape Tree Bay.
Once there, Coogle met Velasquez, who directed her inside, where she said she witnessed the victim tied up, and then saw him tortured, shot and dismembered. She identified Ventura as one of the shooters and Rivera as the other. She said Velasquez ordered her to clean up the blood at the scene.
Defense attorneys hammered Coogle over differing details in Federal Bureau of Investigation and V.I. Police Department reports of her account, starting with a 2002 statement to the FBI.
Gordon Rhea, court appointed attorney for defendant Rivera, pressed Coogle as to why, in a 2004 statement, an FBI agent wrote that Coogle said defendant Velasquez picked her up and took her to the site of the killing, while in later statements, Coogle said he drove earlier in the night, but called her and told her to drive out and meet him. "
"The statements have been completely different as to who picked who up … what vehicle was used, correct? He took you out; that is what it says, correct?"
"I don’t recall. I could have said picked up instead of dropped off," Coogle said.
Rhea also pressed Coogle on passages in one report, where officers said Coogle told them the victim’s hands were "handcuffed" behind him, while other statements say his hands were "tied" or in "plastic ties."
Rhea and the other defense attorneys returned to these inconsistencies as they made their defense, arguing that Coogle is an unreliable witness and the differing details warrant a reasonable doubt as to guilt.
In other court proceedings, a juror was replaced by an alternate Wednesday morning, marking the third juror to be replaced over the course of the trial. As is usual in this situation, no explanation was given.
One juror was dismissed after prosecution witness, Jimmy Davis, allegedly threatened a juror. Davis was arrested and charged with threatening a juror. However, many circumstances can result in the dismissal of a juror, including medical, family or other conflicting circumstances.
Davis, who has an extensive criminal record, identified defendant Rivera, then denied FBI claims that Davis told them Rivera had confessed to the crime. Davis’ brother Hector Davis similarly identified Rivera and proceeded to deny he had ever told FBI agents anything about Rivera committing the crime.
As the jury deliberated Wednesday, it sent at least three notes to the judge with questions.
Donohue and the prosecuting and defense attorneys heard the questions in chambers, without the public present.
Deliberations continue 9 a.m. Thursday.
