Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Day three of the murder trial of Reco Jones saw the defense for the
first time in front of the jury accuse one of the defendant's former
girlfriends, Maliaka Martin, of being the person responsible for the
deaths of Yolanda Bellamy, her two young sons and her young niece and
nephew.
Defense attorney John McWilliams resumed his cross-examination of Martin
and suggested that Yolanda was more attractive to Jones because she
already had children and Martin did not. He went further, asking her if
she believed Reco would go to prison if he was caught, and thus become a
``captive audience'' for her. Martin intended to show the jury Martin
would be happier with Jones in prison and not free to chase other women.
When he asked Martin if she had heard that Yolanda and Jones were
planning to wed, she replied that she had not. Finally, McWilliams
stated that Jones had come to Martin's home about 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 13
to confront her over what she had done at Yolanda's. Martin said that
that was not true, denying all responsibility for the murders.
Later in the morning, Jones's friend, Tamika Terrell, took the stand to
say Jones and Martin showed up at her house hours after the murder about
7:30 a.m. and asked her to both help them get rid of some of Jones's
clothes and bloody gym shoes and return to Bellamy's house to make sure
the front door handle was wiped clean of his fingerprints.
But Terrell did not have a washing machine. Jones then asked her to get
rid of the clothes, which were in a plastic bag. Terrell said she
questioned Jones further about why he needed disposal of the clothes.
Martin, Terrell said, told her Jones ``took care of Yolanda.'' Jones
went further and said he eliminated Yolanda and ``cut the f--- out of
her.'' Terrell said she did not believe him. She said she saw a paper
bag in the trunk of Jones's mother's car that he was driving that
morning. Jones, she said, told her the bag contained the knife he used
and that he was going to throw it in a river or lake. Terrell said she
then burned his clothes and blood-splattered gym shoes in a metal
garbage can her family used for burning trash.
There is a question over what clothes Jones was wearing after the
murders. Martin testified previously that Jones showed up at her house
wearing denim shorts and a t-shirt. Terrell said the clothes she burned
included a hooded sweat jacket and sweat pants and apparently the same
gym shoes described by Martin. McWilliams was using a photo of Martin
wearing a hooded sweatshirt quite a bit during Monday's testimony.
Prosecutor Kevin Simowski suggested in questioning that Jones switched
clothes and put them into the bag for disposal when he went to the trunk
of his car.
Terrell said she then accompanied Martin and Jones back to Bellamy's
house, and that she got out of the car and wiped the handle of the front
screen door to ensure there were no fingerprints. This, she said, took
about 30 seconds. Terrell did not tell police what she knew for four
days, and only after Martin gave police her name.
During cross-examination, McWilliams carefully asked Terrell if she had
misheard what Jones said about killing Yolanda. Was it possible,
McWilliams asked, that Jones said ``Kia'' (Maliaka Martin's nickname,
pronounced like "pie") cut the f--- out of Yolanda? Terrell conceded
that that was possible. She acknowledged that ``I'' and ``Kia'' sound
alike. On redirect, however, prosecutor Simowski got Terrell to agree
that there was no misunderstanding.
Jurors also heard testimony from the Janet Jones, the mother of Reco
Jones. Her testimony showed that she could not account for Reco between
the hours of 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., when she was asleep. She said she woke
up at 8 a.m. to find her Chrysler LeBaron gone. Mrs. Jones said it was
not unusual for Reco to use her car. She testified that Yolanda came to
her house about 11 p.m. the previous night and was upset. Because of
Yolanda's demeanor, this witness would not allow her to confront Reco,
who was inside the house. She told Reco to stay in the basement.
Finally, Jones said, she called 911 to complain that Yolanda would not
leave.
Yolanda Bellamy ultimately left on her own. Jones also said Maliaka
Martin lived in her household for a few years up until June of 1996. She
said Martin acted ``hostile'' toward children who interacted with Reco,
and that Martin acted ``jealous'' toward Reco's own siblings. The
prosecutor held up the knife believed to be similar to the murder
weapon--a Ginsu knife. He asked her if that knife resembled one she had
in her home at one time. She said that it did.
Jeffrey Jones, the defendant's uncle and one of the police
investigators, was also called to the stand. He was working Aug. 13 with
a special quick reaction unit aimed at grabbing suspects off the street
quickly. He heard a call from another precinct that there was a subject
named Reco wanted for five fatal assaults who drive a burgundy BMW. This
witness admitted to prosecutor Simowski that he knew the description of
the suspect matched his nephew, and he headed toward his sister's
Janet's house. Janet had just spoken with Reco when Jeffrey arrived at
her house. She told him that Reco was headed to the restaurant for lunch
with his barber. Jeffrey said he and his fellow officers then arrested
Reco.
Interestingly, Simowski had impeach Jeffrey Jones about alleged
statements his nephew made at the time of his arrest. The police officer
said he told Reco that his girlfriend had been killed. Reco replied,
``Who?'' and according to Jeffrey, said a name that sounded unusual. But
the officer said he could not remember the name. Simowski seemed
unconvinced, wondering aloud how Jeffrey Jones could not remember such a
name while investigating a murder with five victims. Jeffrey Jones also
maintained that he knew that the five victims were stabbed to death
before he assisted in the arrest of his nephew, a claim that would be
disputed by another officer.
The final witness called for the day was another investigating officer,
Sgt. Arlie Lovier. He said he arrived at the Bellamy home around noon.
(The first officer at the scene broke down the front door around 11:10
a.m.) Lovier, who was given 30 days off in the wake of the grisly murder
scene, said it was the worst crime scene he witnessed in 24 years with
the Detroit Police Department. Lovier became visibly shaken recounting
the murder scene and the autopsies that followed. He said he immediately
called for doctors to examine the victims and that he did not know for
sure the victims were stabbed to death until after two doctors examined
the victims' bodies.
Lovier said the presence of so much blood prevented an immediate
determination of what caused the wounds. In contradiction to Jeffrey
Jones's previous testimony, Lovier said that only the senior department
commanders were informed of the cause of death that day, and that they
were not told until after 2 p.m. No other officers should have known the
victims were stabbed. Lovier will return to the stand for
cross-examination when testimony resumes Tuesday morning.
--
Kathy E
"I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow
isn't looking too good for you either"
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