Witness Claims He Saw Co-Defendants Attempt to Rob NE Apartment

By D.C. Witness Staff - June 20, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

A witness in a 2015 murder trial confirmed that he saw the three co-defendants attempt to rob an apartment in Northeast DC.

Charles McRae, Willie Glover and Joseph Barbour are charged with first-degree murder while armed. The three men are accused of stabbing Lenard Wills in the course of the alleged robbery.

The witness was a frequent occupant of the apartment on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE. According to counsel, the apartment was a place where people would convene to do drugs. The witness said that he was the one who let three attackers in to the apartment.

According to the prosecution’s opening statement, Wills’ girlfriend was making dinner when McRae, 66, and Wills, 50, began arguing about money. McRae stormed out and found Glover, 40, and Barbour, 38, outside. The prosecution said the three then returned to the apartment to rob it.

According to the witness, he was nervous about letting McRae back into the apartment because McRae looked nervous.The witness also said he heard McRae talking about robbing Wills in the past.

The witness said once he opened the door, three men stormed in. Two of the men had guns and masks. When asked if he recognized the men in masks, the witness became silent. After a long pause, the witness said “Will and Short.” According to government documents, Barbour is sometimes known as “Shorty.”

In his opening statement, Barbour’s lawyer said his client was actually a victim of the attack. He said there was another attacker who worked with McRae and Glover. The lawyer said the third man escaped.

“(He) ran from apartment 81 into the night forevermore,” said Barbour’s lawyer. “He’s not in this courtroom today.”

Barbour’s lawyer also said a bloody knife, recovered from a trash can near the crime scene, was used to attack Barbour. The lawyer said Barbour did not use the weapon to attack Wills. The blood on the knife was found to belong to Barbour, according to the lawyer.

McRae’s attorney said that McRae and Wills actually had a good relationship and that most of their disagreements were about sports. “(McRae) was there to do what everyone else was there to do. He was there to get high,” McRae’s attorney said. “He left the apartment with the sole purpose of getting some more drugs.”

The lawyer noted that witnesses were inconsistent as to whether one, two or all three of the robbers wore masks.The prosecution acknowledged that their witnesses were not always consistent in their accounts.

The trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow, June 20.