ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
As Gary Wayne Barker described the slaying of a Virginia Tech student, he recalled the student trying to shield himself with his arm as he was shot repeatedly and fell dead.
Barker also recalled in court Tuesday that the man pulling the trigger was Benjamin Lee Lilly.
Alexander V. DeFilippis' father left the Montgomery County Circuit Court room just before Barker described how his 22-year-old son died.
"I seen the flashes. ... I didn't hear gunshots," Barker testified through tears. "I seen him throw up his arm, he staggered back and fell down."
Lilly, on trial for capital murder, seemed unmoved by Barker's testimony.
Barker pleaded guilty in August for his part in the crime spree in which DeFilippis was carjacked from a Blacksburg convenience store and shot to death. Barker, 20, was sentenced to 53 years in prison for the abduction, carjacking and two related armed robberies as well as four firearms charges. His life sentence for capital murder as a principal in the second degree was suspended for 75 years.
As part of his plea agreement, Barker agreed to testify against Ben Lilly, 28, and Lilly's brother Mark, 21. Mark Lilly is set to go to trial Nov. 19.
When asked what he got in return for his testimony, Barker chuckled and said, "Not a whole lot; the chance to one day get out."
He will be in his 60s before he has a chance for parole.
On cross-examination, Barker admitted he had talked about shooting someone in the days before the Dec. 5 slaying. He testified that he was "drunk and running his mouth" when he said those things and vowed he would never say them again. When asked why, Barker said what he saw in December changed his opinion.
"It's sick, man," Barker said.
But Christopher Tuck, co-counsel for the defense, challenged the reliability of Barker's testimony and set the stage for the charge that Barker shot DeFilippis.
Tuck pointed to testimony by Barker that contradicted statements he made to officers in Giles County, where he was arrested. At one point, Barker admitted he did not tell police about a meeting with Warren Nolan, a Radford man who testified Monday that Barker and Ben Lilly had guns and antique coins when they came to his home the night before the slaying. Barker said he did not want to drag Nolan into "something he didn't want to be involved in." Barker testified the coins were stolen from a Floyd County home.
Tuck asked Barker if he ever threatened to kill one of the convenience store owners during the two armed robberies in Giles County after the slaying. He denied that he did.
"I know a few things may be cloudy, but I never threatened anyone's life," Barker said.
The store owners have been subpoenaed to testify but have yet to take the stand.
During the 48 hours before the shooting, Barker said, he and the other two men drank several liters of hard liquor, including vodka and whiskey. He and Mark Lilly also smoked marijuana.
In an effort to get marijuana, Barker said, the men attempted several times to sell or trade the guns they had stolen from a Floyd County home.
Tuck questioned Barker about one attempted sale outside a Blacksburg bar.
"Did Ben Lilly tell you to put the damn guns away?"
Barker said, "No, definitely not."
Ronald Lucas, who testified Monday, said that as Barker showed him a rifle outside the bar, Ben Lilly yelled at them to put the gun away.
One of those guns, a .38 caliber Colt revolver, was used to kill DeFilippis.
Dr. David Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia, testified about gunshot wounds and which one killed DeFilippis.
Oxley said bullets hit him in the face and right forearm. One bullet lodged in DeFilippis' brain, wounding him fatally.
"It entered the right temple and passed through both halves of the brain," Oxley said. "The wound to the temple would have brought unconsciousness and then death shortly afterward."
Barker will take the stand again today. Neither the defense nor the prosecution would comment about Barker's Tuesday testimony.
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