LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Tuesday in court, a Lexington Police Department detective explained how all the pieces of the puzzle came together when they were investigating a marine’s murder. He explained what led to the police charging the two men on trial for the murder.
In the days after the murder of U.S. Marine Jonathan Price, police painstakingly collected the evidence they say led them to the killer.
One of the clues came thanks to observant maintenance workers who had a feeling something wasn’t right. On Tuesday, they testified in front of a jury.
In order to get a conviction, prosecutors need to prove to the jury that defendants Quincinio Canada and Dawan Mulazim killed Price outside of Austin City Saloon in June 2014. Price’s wife, Megan, also was shot that night but survived.
One piece of evidence is a New York Yankees hat. On the day after the killing, an apartment manager and maintenance worker where Mulazim and his wife lived notice the wife throwing away clothes.
"You have to remember this is (June) the last part of (June) — it is hot," said maintenance worker Kevin White. "Those dumpsters stink. I watch a lot of people put stuff in those dumpsters. They throw it at it, they throw it toward it, they throw it over it but very rarely do you see somebody walk up to it and intentionally place something in it."
So they called 911 and police found the seemingly new hat in the dumpster. Prosecutors say Mulazim was photographed wearing the hat, and the apartment manager said she knows he was a fan of the team.
"I’m from Boston, and the Red Sox and the Yankees have a rivalry and we kind of joked one day about it," said Dorothy Lesage.
Police say Mulazim’s wife later was charged with evidence tampering in the case.
Earlier Tuesday, Lt. David Richardson was back on the witness stand picking up where the Commonwealth had left off Monday, with cellphone records.
Richardson made a cellphone tower map showing the calls a cellphone made June 15, 2014, between 2:56 a.m. and 3:48 p.m. This map was made for the Quality Inn robbery, where prosecutors say the murder weapon as stolen. Prosecutors used the cellphone pings to try and show the jury that they believe the defendants were there that night.
The second map was made for June 20, 2018. The second map shows the hours before the murder. The third map showed June 21, 2018, the date of the murder and where the cellphone pinged.
He made this cellphone tower map. These are the calls made on 6/15/15 between 2:56 a.m. & 3:48 a.m. Prosecutors are trying to locate the defendants in the area using cellphone pings. pic.twitter.com/8yBiAnxNSV
— Karolina Buczek (@Karolina_Buczek) June 19, 2018
He also made this map for 6/20/14
First map was made for the Quality Inn robbery (where prosecutors say murder weapon was stolen) and the second map was hours before the murder. Prosecutors using cellphone pings to show the jury what they believe – the defendants were there. pic.twitter.com/Z2pasbySJh
— Karolina Buczek (@Karolina_Buczek) June 19, 2018
And here’s the map for the actual date of the murder – 6/21/14
Prosecutors ask if these pings were near the murder scene. pic.twitter.com/UTWu307pJb
— Karolina Buczek (@Karolina_Buczek) June 19, 2018
The defense played security footage that the jury had not seen before. It was another camera view of the parking lot. It showed a silver car pulling through the lot near the entrance of Austin City Saloon. The defense said that the video the prosecution played showed the silver car coming into view at 1:23:03 and it took about 10 seconds for it to leave the camera view. Nine minutes later, two people, who the prosecutors claim are the defendants, are seen walking.
The defense showed a different camera angle and asked Lt. Richardson if there was a silver car leaving the parking lot at 1:22:18. He said that it looked like a light colored car, but he couldn’t say for certain if it was silver.
The trial will continue Wednesday at 9 a.m.
