ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9609030050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: Associated Press
A former Navy SEAL trainee charged with the murder of a college student testified Friday that his best friend killed her by snapping her neck, and that he helped dispose of the body.
Dustin A. Turner, 21, said he was stunned by the events and panicked.
But prosecutors noted that Turner had composed himself enough the next day to go to an apartment complex and sign a lease with his friend and fellow SEAL trainee Billy Joe Brown.
``I was basically trying to forget about everything,'' Turner said under cross-examination.
``So much so that you would willingly sign a lease with a man that you saw commit a murder?'' asked Al Alberi, Virginia Beach deputy commonwealth's attorney.
``Yes, sir,'' Turner replied.
Turner also admitted that he and Brown once participated in group sex with the same woman. But he denied the prosecutor's contention that the two wanted to have group sex with Jennifer L. Evans and killed her when she resisted.
Turner occasionally seemed on the verge of tears as he testified for about three hours, including a half hour under cross-examination. He is to take the stand again when the trial resumes Tuesday.
Turner, of Bloomington, Ind., is charged with abducting and murdering Evans, 21, a premed student at Emory University in Atlanta.
Evans met Turner at a Virginia Beach nightspot on June 18, 1995, while on vacation. He led police to her badly decomposed remains on June27.
Brown, 24, of Dayton, Ohio, and Turner blamed each other for the killing. Brown was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to 72 years in prison.
Turner testified that he and Evans were sitting in his car in the club parking lot when a drunken and belligerent Brown climbed into the back seat.
Brown began pestering Evans by touching her hair, Turner said. All of a sudden, Brown locked both his arms around Evans' neck and squeezed hard, Turner said.
Turner said that he managed to pry Brown's arms away after a few seconds, but Evans went limp. He checked her pulse and knew she was dead.
Brown yelled at him to drive, and he did so, eventually ending up in Newport News, he said.
But Alberi said that Brown merely rendered Evans unconscious by squeezing her neck and blocking the flow of blood to her brain to give Turner time to drive the car to a back street in Virginia Beach.
He said the two men started to molest Evans when she awoke, and strangled her when she fought them.
Earlier Friday, the judge rejected a defense request to dismiss the charges against Turner on the grounds that prosecutors had failed to prove their case.
``The evidence is sufficient to find the defendant guilty of both charges,'' Circuit Judge John Moore said outside the jury's presence.
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