Defendant gives emotional testimony in Hernando homicide trial

The witness cried and the prosecutor gave no mercy.

Robert Jardin, the only man charged in the Oct. 28, 2006 deaths of an elderly Masaryktown couple, said he never saw the victims get stabbed.

The visibly nervous and emotional Jardin, 35, said he waited in the car after it pulled up to 333 Korbus Road while his drug dealer and another man he had never met walked around to the back of the house.

About 20 minutes later, the lights came on inside the house. His dealer, whom he knew as Rick, waved to him to let him know it was safe to come inside, Jardin said.

He walked through the front door and into the living room. He said the house looked like it has been "turned upside down."

He turned and saw two feet lying in the hallway, Jardin said.

When Jardin saw the bloody bodies of Patrick and Evelyn DePalma, he said he felt nauseous.

"Immediately, I didn't know what to do," Jardin said while on the stand Friday morning. "I really did just freak out. I panicked. I ran to the sink. I thought I was going to throw up."

He grabbed a container of milk from the refrigerator and took a sip. He did so to settle his stomach, he said.

That was why his DNA was found in the house, he said. He also said he spit up in the sink, which was how more of his DNA was discovered by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office following a search of the house.

Patrick, 84, and Evelyn DePalma, 79, died from a total of 14 stab wounds, according to the autopsy report.

Jardin is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of burglary, one count of armed robbery and one count of grand theft.

Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino was unmoved by Jardin's emotional testimony. He lambasted the witness in front of jurors, at times mocking him.

The defendant said he didn't know Rick's last name and never spoke to him again. He also said he knew nothing about the second man with him that night other than his name was Bub.

Jardin audibly wept while on the stand Friday. He poured himself a glass of water. Magrino took a few steps toward him at the start of his cross examination.

"Are you going to need some more water because you're emotionally upset?" he asked sarcastically.

The prosecutor asked him whether he was tearing up. Jardin said he was. Magrino shot back with a louder voice.

"Were you tearing up the night you were in the DePalmas' home when they were getting murdered?" he asked.

"Yes sir, I did," Jardin told him.

Magrino's line of questioning drew multiple objections from defense attorney Alan Fanter. Some were sustained by the Circuit Judge Jack Springstead. Others were overruled.

During a weeklong trial devoid of emotion, Friday morning featured climactic testimony from the defendant. It was the first chance jurors got to hear the story from someone who was at the DePalma home the night of the killings.

Magrino, however, aimed to discredit Jardin's entire story.

The defense on Friday called only two witnesses - a detective who spent two minutes on the stand and Jardin, who testified for nearly two hours.

Jardin said he was scared for his life and for the life of his three kids. The two men, one of whom he claimed to have never met, had threatened to harm his children if he ever said anything, he said.

Magrino thundered away at Jardin.

He gave the witness a copy of the transcript of the interview he had with detectives in July 2008. Line by line, Magrino read the statements Jardin made.

During his interrogation, Jardin denied ever meeting the deceased couple. He denied knowing anything about the murders. He denied being inside the house or knowing anyone who was ever inside the house, according to the transcripts read in court.

"Yes, I lied in my questioning," Jardin said. Magrino made him repeat that statement three times.

Detectives said they discovered several items belonging to the DePalmas - including a stereo system and a set of car keys - in Jardin's possession almost two years after the slayings. They said he also gave the couple's vacuum cleaner to a friend and Patrick DePalma's watch to his former boss, a local pawn shop owner.

Jardin said Rick and Bub dropped him off at an intersection near his house the night of the killings. After they threatened him not to say anything, he walked home.

The following morning, Jardin saw the stolen items in the bed of his truck, which was parked in front of his house, he said.

"I freaked again," said Jardin. "I took the items and I put them in my room. I didn't know what else to do."

During his interview with detectives two years ago, Jardin gave them several more names of people who had joined him inside the DePalma house the night of Oct. 28, 2006.

The frustrated detectives said he was giving them names of "ghosts."

"You were lying to law enforcement, weren't you Mr. Jardin?" Magrino asked him.

"When they didn't believe the truth," Jardin answered.

The trial will resume Monday with closing arguments.

If convicted, Jardin could get the death penalty.