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November 11, 2009

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Attorney says murder defendant falsely accused

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002 | 9 a.m.

The state's case against a 19-year-old man accused of raping and stabbing a mentally ill woman to death last summer "reeks" of reasonable doubt, his defense attorneys told jurors Monday.

The evidence will show that Christopher Williams, who faces the death penalty if convicted, has been falsely accused, Deputy Public Defender Jordan Savage said during opening statements.

Savage said, without elaborating, that Williams was a young man with "the best of intentions."

Song Magliari, 64, was sexually assaulted, stabbed in the heart and back and then set on fire inside her Simmons Street apartment May 8.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli told jurors that several of Magliari's neighbors will testify they saw Magliari screaming at Williams just an hour prior to her death and at least one of them saw Williams leaving the scene in Magliari's car.

Williams' fingerprints matched those on Magliari's car, in addition to other evidence found in Magliari's bedroom, Lalli said.

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