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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- June 21, 2018
Court
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Homicides
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Suspects
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Counsel scrutinized inconsistencies between a witness’s grand jury testimony and his testimony during a 2015 murder trial.
Charles McRae, Willie Glover, and Joseph Barbour are charged with first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing of Lenard Wills at an apartment on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE. According to the prosecution, the apartment was a place where people would hang out and do drugs, especially crack cocaine and heroin. Prosecutors said they believe the defendants killed Wills, 50, while attempting to rob him.
A witness, who acted as an unofficial “doorman” for the apartment, said he saw McRae, 66, go to the apartment’s kitchen, grab a knife, and stab Wills as he struggled with Barbour, 38, and Glover, 40.
However, Glover’s lawyer pointed out that, during his grand jury testimony, the witness said he had not seen the stabbing but heard about it later.
Glover’s attorney also said the witness told a grand jury that he called Wills’ girlfriend the next day to discuss the incident, inferring that the witness did not know Wills was dead.
Glover’s attorney suggested the witness lied to detectives and prosecutors about seeing the stabbing in hopes that they would help him curry favor with the parole board. However, the witness said there was no reason for him to do that since he was only locked up for a minor crime and would be out on parole, soon.
According to prosecutors, the witness told a grand jury that McRae was gone from the apartment for 20 or 30 minutes after his alleged argument with Wills. During the trial, the witness said McRae was gone for about two hours.
The trial is set to resume with more questions for the witness on June 21.