Lawyer Wants To Beef Up Defense In 'Backpage Murders'
MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ/AP) - An attorney wants more help to defend a Macomb County man who is accused of killing four women after meeting them through online escort ads.
Jeff Cojocar says James Brown "vehemently" disputes the charges. Cojocar is seeking a judge's approval to bring another lawyer aboard as well as $25,000 to hire experts in DNA, fingerprints and other specialties. A judge is holding a hearing Monday on the requests from Cojocar.
Brown can't afford a lawyer so his defense is being covered by taxpayers. He's charged with killing four women in pairs on two different days at his Sterling Heights home and then leaving their bodies in cars in Detroit.
The bodies of 24-year-old Demesha Hunt and 23-year-old Renisha Landers were found Dec. 19, 2011 in separate car trunks in Detroit. Then, on Christmas Day 2011, the bodies of two additional women, 29-year-old Natasha Curtis and 28-year-old Vernithea McCrary, were found in the trunk of burning car.
Brown told police that he met the women on Backpage.com, which carries personal ads. Police said three of the women had ties to ads for escort services on the website.
Detroit detective Derryck Thomas testified that Brown admitted he was with the women in his basement when they died. Thomas said Brown told him that he fell asleep and found the women lifeless when he woke up.
Dr. Francisco Diaz, an assistant Wayne County medical examiner, testified that the victims died of asphyxiation, a lack of oxygen to the brain. Diaz said it's possible for someone to be asphyxiated without a struggle, especially if the attacker is larger than the victim. Brown is a large, muscular man who could have killed the women as he sat on them, Diaz said.
Detectives say Brown also admitted to burning two of the women's bodies after putting them in a car and driving to the east side. Another investigator testified that Brown's DNA was found under the victims' fingernails and blood was found in Brown's house that matches the victims.
Brown is charged in Macomb County, where the deaths are alleged to have occurred, with four counts of first degree murder (a life felony), four counts of disinterment and mutilation of a dead body (a 10-year felony), one count of arson of real property (a 10-year felony), and one count of arson of personal property (a five-year felony). He faces life in prison if convicted.
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