No defense witnesses in murder trial

Friday, May 16, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The defense may rest its case without putting a single witness on the stand when the murder trial of Gregory Leonard resumes Monday in District Court.

Attorneys David Schieck and Pete LaPorta are expected to base their case on the contention that the prosecution failed to prove its charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Leonard, 32, is charged in the Jan. 22 slaying of 24-year-old Tony Antee, whose body was found under a bed in Leonard's apartment at 905 E. Twain Ave. The defendant was employed as a maintenance man at the apartment complex.

Leonard has indicated he will not take the witness stand in his own behalf.

In his opening statement, LaPorta planted in the minds of jurors the possibility that several people had access to Leonard's apartment and could have placed the body under the bed. He also suggested Antee was a drug dealer who used Leonard's apartment to "ply his trade" and that the killing could have been the result of a deal gone sour.

The prosecution rested Wednesday after eliciting testimony from Leonard's friend Jesus Cintron. Cintron testified that Leonard called him the night of the killing and asked for help in moving a body from under his bed.

Several police detectives said they heard the message, but their accounts of its exact content varied.

Antee was strangled, apparently with a blinds cord.

Leonard also is charged in the strangulation death of Thomas Williams, 64, at the Twain Avenue apartment complex last November. Trial in that case is scheduled for Aug. 11 before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty in both cases.