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Defense Seeks To Shift Blame To Pasco Murder Defendant's Brother

Tribune photo by ANDY JONES

Luc Pierre-Charles Jr., center, listens to his defense attorneys during a February court appearance in Dade City.

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By TODD LESKANIC | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 17, 2009

DADE CITY - Attorneys for murder defendant Luc Pierre-Charles Jr. called four witnesses to the stand this morning as the defense began presenting its case.

The goal: to shift blame for the 2006 slayings of Wesley Chapel High students Derek Pieper and Raymond Veluz to the defendant's younger brother, Andre, and another associate, Jeremy Henry.

Andre Pierre-Charles testified for prosecutors last week and has not been charged in the case. Henry was shot and killed Aug. 13, 2006, roughly two weeks after the bodies of Pieper and Veluz were discovered on Harris Hill Road in Trilby.

Authorities have said Henry was killed because he knew who murdered Pieper and Veluz. A Tampa man, Commie Pattmon, is charged with Henry's slaying.

Today, defense witness Tyler Garrison testified that she doesn't know Luc Pierre-Charles Jr. and did not see him at the Pasco Woods apartments on the night of the killings. Pieper and Veluz went to the apartments about 2:30 a.m. to buy drugs, according to earlier testimony.

Prosecutors contend the teens were met at Pasco Woods by Luc Pierre-Charles Jr. and co-defendant Tyree Jenkins. A prosecution witness, Angel Brooks, testified that she saw Pierre-Charles Jr. and Jenkins driving away from the apartments with two boys in the backseat. Pieper and Veluz were found dead a few hours later.

Defense attorney Lane Lastinger is also relying on phone records he contends show that Brooks isn't telling the truth. In her testimony, Brooks said she overheard a call between the Pierre-Charles brothers during which she could hear Luc telling someone to get on their knees and pray. Brooks testified she also heard voices begging for their lives.

But Lastinger said today that phone records show Andre Pierre-Charles' phone was turned off at the time of the killings, a point he'll likely touch on in his closing argument Wednesday morning. The jury will begin deliberating following closing arguments.

Another defense witness, Ricardo Rubio, testified that Henry, Andre Pierre-Charles and Brooks came to his home on Old Pasco Road in the afternoon following the killings. Rubio testified that Henry and Pierre-Charles acted nervous during the visit and Brooks was crying.

"She was crying in the corner, but I don't know why," Rubio said.

The defense is expected to rest its case this afternoon.

Luc Pierre-Charles Jr is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faces the possibility of the death penalty if found guilty as charged. Jenkins, 23, will be tried separately and also faces a possible death sentence.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084.

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