HASTINGS, Minn.

Monday, June 11, 2001

HASTINGS, Minn. – Defense attorneys for three St. Paul men accused in a double homicide at the Downtown Motel in Austin last June rested their cases after calling only one witness – accused murderer Vernon Neal Powers.

The other two defendants in the case, accused murderer Scott Christian and alleged driver David Christian, declined the opportunity to testify. Their attorneys called no other witnesses.

Powers was put on the stand before the jury was admitted so the sight of his leg restraints would not influence them as to his guilt or innocence. A security guard stood near the jury room door, specifically instructed to be discreet by Mower County Third District Court Judge Donald Rysavy.

Powers told the jury he was sick, drunk and disoriented the night of June 30, 2000, and had no idea any of his companions planned a robbery, much less the killing of two St. Paul roofers and injuring a third.

"I’ve got a vague recollection, I don’t remember everything," he said. "I was just there."

Jenea Weinand could have planned the robbery, killed Juan Vincente Ramirez and Raul Pedro Guiterrez, and injured Benjamin Morelo Heranandez, Powers said.

"I didn’t even know what was going on," he said.

Powers accused the prosecution of coercing witnesses like Natasha Munos and Tenisha Patterson to testify against him. He said witness testimony about him handling a gun, wearing gloves and a mask, and planning the robbery all were fed to them by prosecuting attorneys.

"They said what you told them to say," he said.

If that were true, then why did witness Jorge Ramirez pick him out of a lineup, and how did a mask with Powers’ DNA get underneath one of the victims, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Pete Orput asked.

"I didn’t kill nobody," Powers said.

The jury was to begin deliberation today, following closing arguments by the prosecution and defense.

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