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Suspect's Daughter Takes The Stand

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By TODD LESKANIC, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - When Patrisha Windham sat on the witness stand Wednesday, she saw the man charged in the 2002 slaying of Joshan Ashbrook.

It was her father, Phillup Alan Partin.

The 12-year-old testified for prosecutors Wednesday, recalling for jurors events from July and August 2002. Woven into her testimony was the story of a father who abandoned his daughter as he ran from the law.

Patrisha last saw her father on Aug. 10, 2002, nine days after electric company workers discovered Ashbrook's half-naked body in the woods off Shady Hills Road. Patrisha testified that Partin and his friend, Fred Kaufman, dropped her off at the home of a Wauchula woman and then left.

'Did you ever see your dad again?' asked Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis.

'No,' Patrisha said.

'Did you ever hear from your dad again?'

'No.'

Partin, 42, is charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty if found guilty. He has pleaded not guilty, and defense attorneys William Bennett and Bjorn Brunvand plan to argue that Kaufman killed Ashbrook.

Patrisha and her father were living at the Port Richey home of Fred and Diane Kaufman at the time of Ashbrook's death. On July 31, 2002, Partin picked up Ashbrook as she was walking on U.S. 19. Prosecutors showed surveillance video Wednesday that shows them Partin, Ashbrook and Patrisha at a Wal-Mart in Port Richey.

Patrisha testified that they bought a few items at the Wal-Mart, then went fishing and swimming. Later, they returned to Kaufman's home, where they watched television and played video games in Partin's room.

Investigators think Ashbrook, 16, was killed in the room sometime that night, based on blood stains found on the carpet and the walls.

The 12-year-old's recollection became confused when asked what she remembered about that night.

In a deposition taken last month, Patrisha said her father left with Ashbrook at some point and didn't return for a few days, but Wednesday, she testified that Ashbrook left after saying she was going to walk home.

Patrisha referred to Ashbrook as 'Joanna.'

'When you told us in deposition that you remembered you and Joanna and your dad in the bedroom and then your dad left with Joanna and didn't come back, was that the truth?' Halkitis asked.

'Yes,' she said.

'Patrisha, when you just testified that Joanna left on her own and walked home that night, was that also the truth?' Brunvand asked on cross-examination.

'Yes,' she said.

It was about that time that Circuit Judge William Webb abruptly stopped the trial and asked that the jury be taken out of the courtroom.

'I just observed your client giving hand signals to his daughter,' Webb said. 'Now, he's going to stop it and stop it immediately.'

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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