Woman charged in killing said she was under orders

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Monday, May 10, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

A woman defending herself against charges of kidnapping and murdering a 66-year-old man for a $44,000 sports ticket took the witness stand on Friday to tell the jury she was simply following the orders of a mobster.

Bridget Pascua, 35, testified she was forced to "cover up," but not take part in the murder of Doyle Upson in January 2001 after being threatened by the "Mexican mafia." Pascua told the jury a mobster known as "the Wop" made it clear that if she didn't follow his instructions, her family, friends and she would all be in grave danger.

" 'The Wop' told me there are 3,700 mines in Nevada -- pick one, clean this up and forget about it. I didn't want to do any of this." Pascua said. "I didn't do any of this under my free will. If I didn't do what they said, my family was in danger. The mafia was involved and I couldn't jeopardize my family."

Pascua said "The Wop" read off a list of addresses that included her grandmother's as proof the Mexican mafia knew where her loved ones lived and that they would be harmed if she didn't dispose of Upson's body.

Pascua admits to disposing of Upson's body in a local marble pit.

Pascua said the reason the Mexican mafia wanted Upson dead was they knew he had contracted her to write the screenplay of his life as a drug lord.

"They didn't want me writing this movie," Pascua said. "I knew he was going to be dead at the end of the week as soon as they arrived from Florida."

Pascua said that while Upson was being hit in the head with a hammer, injected with lethal doses of Valium and choked, she was the only one present who tried to help him.

Pascua said she broke the needle of a syringe that was to be used to inject Doyle with Valium and then poured the Valium on Doyle's shirt so he wouldn't be harmed by it.

Additionally, Pascua said she tried to drop hints to neighbors and friends about Upson's murder.

Pascua said she was powerless to do much more to prevent Kimberly Crawford, 36, from beating Upson with the hammer and ultimately killing him.

Crawford confessed to beating Upson was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

Crawford previously testified that she, Pascua and alleged drug dealer Ralph Crispin all got high on crack and went to Upson's home on the 700 block of Casino Center Boulevard to make Upson hand over the winning sports ticket.

When Upson wouldn't give it to them, Crawford said Pascua ordered her to start beating him the the hammer until he did so. Crawford said the three continued smoking crack throughout the nearly eight-hour beating. She said Crispin, who may yet to be charged in the matter, just sat there doing nothing.

Pascua contended that Crawford and Crispin handled the murder and have since conspired via their testimony and police statements to finger Pascua as the leader.

Crispin invoked his Fifth Amendment right when called to testify.

Pascua insisted she was going to pick up Upson on the day of the murder, not to kill him, but to accompany him to the Stratosphere to cash his sports ticket and collect $23,000 she was owed as partial payment for writing his biographical screenplay.

Chief Deputy District Attorney William Kephart has continually said that while Pascua didn't hammer Upson in the head, she tried to poison him and strangle him by standing on his throat, stuffing a rag down his throat and possibly even wrapping a rope around his neck.

During his cross examination Kephart pressed Pascua, asking if she loved Upson as she previously had stated, why didn't she try to stop Crawford from hammering Upson or go to the police for help.

Pascua said she didn't trust the police enough to "help and protect family and friends across the country" from the Mexican mafia.

Because Pascua took the stand, her prior conviction of robbery, burglary, and conspiracy to commit murder were open game for the prosecution. Kephart said that although Pascua's convictions in the July 2000 case are on appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, they mirror the charges now facing her.

Kephart used his cross-examination to depict Pascua as a crack addict who had already committed a similar crime and who saw Upson as perhaps an easy victim and not the wealthy, "untouchable" drug lord that Pascua testified he was.

In realizing her decision to testify would almost certainly introduce her prior conviction to the jury, Pascua, who faces 40 years to life if convicted, turned to several friends in the court and offered her reasoning.

"This is my life," Pascua said. "I have to leave it all out on the table, this is my life on the line."

Kephart was expected to complete his cross-examination today, with closing arguments to follow.