Testimony begins in quadruple slayings’ final trial

Kim Smith

Wednesday, June 7, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

On Aug. 14, 1998, Justin Perkins went to his friends' house to repay a $20 beer loan.

Instead of finding his friends, Matt Mowen, 19, Tracey Gorringe, 21, and Jeffrey Biddle, 19, relaxing in their Terra Linda Avenue home, Perkins found them duct-taped from their elbows to their hands, face-down with bullet wounds to the backs of their heads.

Perkins was the first witness to take the stand in the trial of Donte Johnson, 21, the man accused of firing the fatal shots.

If convicted, Johnson could get the death penalty.

During opening statements Monday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Guymon told the nine men and five women on the jury that Johnson, Sikia Smith, 19, and Terrell Young, 20, killed the three young men and Peter Talamantez, 17, during a robbery.

A few days before the slayings, Guymon said Mowen had gone to a home Johnson was staying at to purchase drugs. While there, Mowen told Johnson and others that he had made a lot of money selling drugs and pizzas while following around the rock group Phish.

Johnson, Smith and Young went to Mowen's home expecting to steal large sums of money and instead left with only a VCR, Nintendo Play Station, $200 and a pager.

Guymon told jurors they can expect to hear not only about DNA and fingerprint evidence that link Johnson to the murders, but incriminating testimony from some of his friends.

Smith and Young also named Johnson as the gunman, Guymon said.

Blood found on the back of some black jeans found in Johnson's bedroom is from Gorringe and semen found near the zipper is Johnson's, Guymon said.

Deputy Special Public Defender Joe Sciscento reminded jurors there are multiple sides to every story and urged them to reserve judgment until they have heard all of the evidence.

Sciscento said defense experts will testify the substance on the front of those jeans is actually vaginal fluid.

As for the blood on the pants, Sciscento said if Johnson had shot Gorringe the way prosecutors say he did, the blood would've sprayed the front of his pants.

The only fingerprints in the house that belonged to Johnson were found on a cigar box and Johnson usually sold Mowen drugs hidden in just such a cigar box, Sciscento said.

Sciscento also urged the jurors to pay close attention to the state's witnesses, particularly Johnson's former girlfriend, Charla Severs.

"She gave not one, not two, not three, not four, but five different statements to the police," Sciscento said.

Guymon told jurors that Severs will testify that on the night before the murders Johnson left carrying a duffel bag she knew concealed at least three weapons inside. She will also tell jurors that when Johnson returned, he nonchalantly told her about the murders, telling her that the blood at the scene flowed like "Niagara Falls."

In addition to Perkins, Smith's former girlfriend, LaShawnya Wright, also testified Tuesday, albeit reluctantly.

Wright told jurors that Johnson paid Smith $20 for the VCR they had stolen from the house and Young and Smith argued about who could keep the Play Station.

She also said that a day or so after the murders, Johnson saw a newspaper article about the murders and said "We made the front page."

Wright denied taking the stand in exchange for help with a misdemeanor case that was pending against her at the time of the murders. She insisted she was telling the truth, even though she didn't want to testify against Johnson.

"I feel like I'm killing him," Wright sobbed.

Smith and Young are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for their part in the crime. They were convicted by separate juries last year.

Prosecutors were expected to put on an additional 15 witnesses today, starting at 8 a.m., before District Judge Jeffrey Sobel.