DENVER—Jurors on Wednesday heard two very different versions of a killing inside a federal prison as the murder trial for one suspect opened in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Rudy Cabrera Sablan is charged with first-degree murder in the October 1999 death of his cellmate, Joey Estrella, at the federal penitentiary in Florence.
Prosecutor Brenda Taylor showed images to jurors of Estrella’s entrails, which she said were spread across the prison cell.
But defense attorney Forrest W. Lewis told jurors that William Sablan actually committed the crime, and that Rudy Sablan simply tried to appear boastful to protect himself.
The two men are cousins.
William Sablan was convicted of first-degree murder last year and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
