HASTINGS, Minn.

Thursday, May 31, 2001

HASTINGS, Minn. – After allegedly shooting three St. Paul roofers in an Austin hotel last summer, Vernon Powers, Scott and David Christian and their associates returned to St. Paul where they had breakfast and tried to hatch a plan for escape. But they were apprehended by St. Paul police shortly later, according to witness testimony.

Witness Jenea Weinand, 19, was part of the robbery, and testified against Powers and the Christian brothers Wednesday.

Weinand and two other girls engaged in prostitution in Austin last June to earn money they allegedly owed the defendants, she said.

Weinand and the other girls prostituted themselves at a local truck stop, apartment and at the Downtown Motel, she said. The dependents also told the girls to keep an eye out for anyone with a lot of money so the group could rob them, she said.

"One of the (customers), I don’t remember which one, told us which room they were staying in, and said they’d be back after work the next day," she said. "He pulled a red bandana out of his pocket, and pulled out a $100 bill and said he needed change."

"It seemed like he had a wad of money in there," she said. "When they left, I told (the other girls) we should tell Scott and Vernon about the guy, so we can all rob the guy so we can get the money and go home."

All three defendants were in on the planning, Weinand said. She was to get the roofers in Room 28 of the Downtown Motel to open the door. Powers and Scott Christian would hold them up using guns they had brought. David Christian would drive.

Weinand said she didn’t see what happened in the room, but heard a man yelling and guns firing. Then Scott Christian and Powers got back in the truck.

After detouring to avoid the Austin police station and getting lost in Iowa, the group returned to Weinand’s house early Friday morning, she told the court. Weinand made breakfast and washed clothes worn in the incident. One girl called her father for a ride home. Scott Christian took another girl to get a fake ID so the group could flee, she said.

"They said we were either going to go to Michigan or Kansas or something," she said. "They said we were all going to stick together so we wouldn’t get caught."

Then Powers’ girlfriend called and told the group to turn on the TV news. The police were talking about the killings in the Downtown Motel, and had the license plate number for Powers’ truck, Weinand said.

"We needed to figure out a story, that we weren’t down there, if the police came looking for us," she said.

But St. Paul police arrived at Weinand’s apartment shortly after, she said. Weinand, Powers and Scott Christian were taken into custody.

Defense attorneys tore into Weinand’s testimony, saying she repeatedly has lied to police, underplaying her own involvement in the killings.

In police interviews, Weinand lied about nearly every part of the crime and who was involved, attorneys said.

Two weeks ago, Weinand pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, aiding and abetting murder and one count of first-degree assault. Her plea agreement with prosecutors depends on her truthful testimony in court, but she still faces roughly 30 years in prison for her role in the slayings.

"What you didn’t tell this jury is part of this bargain you got four charges of first-degree murder dismissed," Scott Christian’s attorney, Rick Smith, said.

"I didn’t pull the trigger," she said.

Weinand was to continue her testimony today.

Call Jennifer Hemmingsen at (507) 379-3438 or e-mail her at news@albertleatribune.com.