Arapahoe County – A witness under police protection said Monday that he feared his testimony against a man accused in a July 4, 2004, murder would endanger his family.
Robert Keith Ray, 20, is accused of killing Gregory Vann at a Fourth of July party at Lowry Park.
Askari Martin, 22, had previously told police he saw Ray with a gun that night, but on Monday, during Ray’s preliminary hearing, he backed off those statements.
“You’re afraid, right?” Chief Deputy District Attorney Ann Tomsic asked.
Martin said he feared for his family’s safety. Tomsic reminded him he could be charged with perjury if he lied under oath.
“You have to tell the truth,” she said.
Police also believe Ray is connected to a double homicide on June 20 that killed Vivian Wolfe and Javad Marshall-Fields, who was to be a key witness against Ray. No one has been arrested in that crime, but it is arguably affecting Ray’s case.
Ten days after the July 4 shooting, Martin, 22, told Aurora police Detective Craig Piel that he saw Ray with a gun in his waistband near where Vann was shot and that he saw Ray jump into a sport utility vehicle and flee.
But Monday on the stand, Martin said he didn’t remember seeing much, only the aftermath.
“Do you deny telling Detective Piel on July 14 as having seen Robert Ray with a handgun?” asked Tomsic.
“I don’t remember,” he said.
Martin, who is living out of state and under protective custody, then told the court about seeing Ray with a gun that night. He blamed his faulty memory on a seizure while in Army basic training.
Before Martin’s testimony, Vann’s brother, Elvin Bell, also struggled to recall events. Though he had chased his brother’s shooter to the SUV, hit him a number of times and was shot three times himself, Bell on Monday couldn’t offer descriptions of the shooter.
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Lundin read statements Bell had given while he was in the hospital recovering from his wounds. He allegedly told detectives the shooter’s skin was caramel-colored and that he wore a white shirt and bluejean shorts, was between 19 and 20 years old and was about 6 feet tall.
On Monday, Bell told the courtroom he had blocked most of it out of his memory and his previous descriptions weren’t of the shooter but of someone he saw at the party.
Defense attorney Michael Zweibel asked Bell whether the shooter was in the courtroom. Ray was at the defense table in an orange jail jumpsuit.
Bell answered, “I don’t know who the shooter is.”
Earlier in the day, Teresa Riley, a friend of Ray’s, took the stand and said she heard Ray threaten Martin after a court hearing. She said she was in an elevator with Ray and his wife, LaToya, when Ray said, “Snitches don’t live long.”
Riley also said LaToya Ray told her Ray was involved in the shooting. Riley said she saw the getaway vehicle in the backyard of Ray’s sister-in-law.
Riley will be under witness protection, Lundin said.
Riley broke down in tears, saying: “I hate that any of this happened to anyone’s family. If anyone knows anything, tell so we can go on with our lives. It shouldn’t have happened.”
The preliminary hearing will continue Wednesday.
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
