DA blames killings on Weber’s obsession

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

Jurors were scheduled to begin deliberating Timmy "T.J." Weber's fate this morning, after prosecutors told them Weber's obsession with his girlfriend's 14-year-old daughter triggered his crime spree.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas, in his closing statement Wednesday, told jurors that Weber was planning to leave the state with the teen after killing Kim Gautier, 38, and her 15-year-old son, Anthony.

"With the entire family eliminated, he certainly would have had a head start," Daskas said.

Daskas said Weber was angry because the teen he'd been sexually assaulting for five years was beginning to show an interest in boys her own age.

"The defendant was losing the object of his obsession," he said. "And he just couldn't deal with it."

Prosecutors allege Weber became angry the night before the slayings when a teenage boy called the girl on the phone, sparking an argument between Weber and Gautier.

But Deputy Public Defender Joseph Abood, in his closing statement, called the alleged dispute "suspect at best."

"Not only was that argument trivial, but it's clearly no motive for murder," he said. "The truth is, T.J. was always the only suspect in this case and that never changed."

Weber, 29, faces multiple charges, including murder and kidnapping, in the April 4, 2002, slayings at the family's home at 700 N. First St.

Prosecutors claim he also raped Gautier's 14-year-old daughter after duct-taping her to her bunk bed. They claim he had been molesting the girl since she was 9.

If convicted, Weber could face the death penalty.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Lalli outlined for jurors the mountain of evidence that built up against Weber during last week's testimony, including Weber's fingerprints found on the duct tape that bound the victims and DNA evidence linking him to the alleged sexual assault.

Lalli said Anthony Gautier was tortured before he was killed. A T-shirt was stuffed down his throat and his body was held down with weights.

"The defendant went to great lengths to kill this young boy," he said. "Think about the panic he must have felt. Can you think of a more terrible and horrific way to die?"

But despite the circumstantial evidence that appears to link Weber to the killings, there are several significant holes in the state's theory, Abood said.

There were several unidentified fingerprints at the crime scene and no sign of Gautier's blood, despite wounds a coroner claimed would have bled profusely, Abood said.

"The state simply has no idea why Kim was killed and when," he said. "They're trying to take this evidence and put together this cohesive tale for you. But you're not able to put it together."

William Immusa, Gautier and Weber's former roommate, testified Wednesday that he moved out of the house because Gautier threatened to have him arrested after he pointed a gun at Weber and his uncle.

Immusa, 68, denied having anything to do with the crimes.

As for the sexual assault charge, Abood told jurors sex between Weber and the teen was consensual. He said his client is guilty of statutory sexual seduction, but that he is no rapist.

Abood said the teen lied about various aspects of her and Weber's sexual relationship, including statements to police in which she initially denied any sexual contact with Weber prior to the day of the killings.

"She was hiding her own misconduct," Abood said. "She admitted she took advantage of T.J. She was getting stuff she wanted out of it. She understands what she's doing."

Prosecutors called Abood's suggestions that the teen played a role in the sex acts "offensive," pointing to pictures of child pornography found on Weber's computer, several of which featured the teen.

"We know what he's into," Lalli said. "We know what turns him on. It's young girls. As pathetic as it might seem, he was her father figure."

Prior to closing statements, Dr. Rayna Rogers, a child psychiatrist, showed jurors a taped interview in which Metro Police Homicide Detective Sheila Huggins questioned the teen a few weeks after the slayings.

Rogers claimed Huggins used faulty interview techniques. She claimed Huggins often suggested answers and behaved more like a child advocate than an unbiased fact finder.

Rogers said teens the age of the alleged victim have the ability to consent to sexual acts, and that the teen clearly understood the risks and benefits of a sexual relationship with Weber.

Under cross-examination by prosecutors, however, Rogers admitted she was not aware of the child pornography nor that DNA evidence linked Weber to the alleged sexual assault.