Brown feared for his life, defense argues

~ Defense portrayed suspect's alleged murder partner as someone capable of killing Brown if he didn't cooperate.

A defendant on trial for the 2002 kidnapping and slaying of a Cape Girardeau County man told police he only participated in the plot out of fear for his own life.

The body of Ralph L. Lape Jr., 54, of Highway 177 near Jackson, was found buried in a cornfield in New Madrid County 25 days after he was killed July 7, 2002. He was fatally shot in the head.

Authorities found the body Aug. 1 when Justin Brown, 26, of Cape Girardeau, agreed to tell police his role in the man's disappearance.

Originally, Brown told investigators the body was already dead and he only helped with the burial. Based on that statement, Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle offered Brown a deal if he told the truth and had no role it the slaying.

The deal, in which Brown was only to be charged with misdemeanor tampering with evidence, was thrown out when Brown revealed he saw Lape alive and even knew of the plot to rob him.

Brown, charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping, is on trial this week in Pulaski County on a change of venue for Lape's death.

In a videotaped statement to police on Aug. 2 that was played for the jurors, Brown admitted he knew of co-defendant Mark Gill's plot to rob and kill Lape.

"He told me he wanted to get Mr. Lape, tape him up, take him out to the country and shoot him in the head," Brown said on the tape. The defendant said he went along with the plan because he was scared Gill would kill him as well.

"There would have been two graves there," if he did not help Gill, Brown said in a video statement played for jurors Wednesday.

Brown said on the tape he and Gill talked about the plot July 6 and admitted to buying duct tape that he eventually used to help Gill bind Lape.

Following the homicide, the two men took Lape's ATM and credit card to the St. Louis area where they spent more than $1,000 at a strip club and stayed at the Adam's Mark, an expensive hotel in St. Louis, the defendant said on the videotape. During his time with Gill, Brown said he was given Lape's ATM card on four occasions and withdrew cash from the victim's account that was given to Gill.

In total, Gill gave Brown $100 of the money drawn from Lape's checking account, the defendant said on the tape.

When the prosecution rested its case, the defense called two witnesses who portrayed Gill as a domineering individual with aspirations of professional wrestling.

Pat Davis, a Cape Girardeau attorney, testified that he hired Gill in 2000 to help out Robert McLean, a quadriplegic living in Sikeston, Mo.

Davis, who managed McLean's trust from a lawsuit that left him a quadriplegic, testified he had been helping finance Gill's wrestling career through a corporation and sent him down to McLean's home as a "knuckle bruiser" to clean the area of riffraff and drug use.

During a four-and-a-half month period, Davis paid Gill nearly $22,000 to stay as a caretaker and protector for McLean and his home.

McClean testified Wednesday that Gill once threatened his life when a gun.

At the time, McClean had filed suit against Davis to recoup losses from him managing the trust. Between 1999 and 2002 when Davis was managing the trust, the money dwindled from $1.25 million to about $250,000, McClean said.

Davis was also the man who set Gill up at Lape's home when the defendant was broke.

"It's very upsetting," Davis said.

Before trial proceedings concluded for the day, Judge Tracy L. Storie, who is overseeing the case, dismissed one juror due to illness. One of four alternates took his place.

The trial began Monday with opening statements, and closing arguments were expected when the trial resumes at 10 a.m. today. If the jury returns a guilty verdict, prosecutors and defense attorneys will present arguments for sentencing, which the jurors will recommend.

Brown, who is being held in lieu of a $2 million bond, could receive the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.

Gill, who was previously convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping, was sentenced to death.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127