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Defense Tries Shifting Blame

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By TODD LESKANIC

tleskanic@tampatrib.com

Published: March 18, 2009

DADE CITY - Attorneys for murder defendant Luc Pierre-Charles Jr. called five witnesses to the stand Tuesday.

The goal: to shift blame for the 2006 slayings of Wesley Chapel High students Derek Pieper, 17, and Raymond Veluz, 18, to the defendant's younger brother, Andre, and another associate, Jeremy Henry.

Andre Pierre-Charles, 19, 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.

Prosecutors have said Henry was killed because he knew who killed the teens and was going to tell investigators.

A Tampa man, Commie Pattmon, is charged with Henry's slaying and is awaiting trial.

At a pretrial hearing, Assistant State Attorney Manny Garcia said Pattmon would testify that Luc Pierre-Charles Jr. offered him $2,500 to kill Henry. But prosecutors opted not to call Pattmon as a witness.

On Tuesday, defense witness Tyler Garrison testified 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 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.

Another defense witness, Ricardo Rubio, testified that Henry, Andre Pierre-Charles and Brooks came to his home on Old Pasco Road in the afternoon after 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.

Defense attorney Lane Lastinger is also relying on phone records he contends show 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 Tuesday 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 this morning. The jury will begin deliberating after closing arguments.

Luc Pierre-Charles Jr. is accused of two counts of first-degree murder and faces a possible 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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