“Witness describes details of Matthew Landry's kidnapping” |
| Witness describes details of Matthew Landry's kidnapping Posted: 28 Sep 2010 11:15 AM PDT Lawrence Watta testified today that he saw Ihab Maslamani drag Matthew Landry by the neck, like in a headlock, to the back of a car in the Eastpointe Quiznos parking lot and try to push Landry into the trunk. Landry didn't go into the trunk and Maslamani dragged him into the driver's side seat of the car, Watta said. Landry then made up and down motions with arms extended and his palms up. Then, Watta testified, Maslamani hit Landry in the face. "He flew back and that was the last time I seen of Matt Landry," Watta testified during Maslamani's murder, bank robbery and carjacking trial in Macomb County Circuit Court. Maslamani is charged in the abduction and shooting death of Landry, 21, of Chesterfield Township. Landry was abducted in the Quiznos parking lot at 10 Mile and Gratiot on Aug. 9, 2009 and found shot in the back of the head several days later in a vacant house in Detroit. Maslamani also is charged in an Aug. 10, 2009 bank robbery in Harrison Township and an Aug. 11, 2009 botched carjacking in Roseville. His attorney, Joseph Kosmala, previously said that Maslamani, 18, of Flint committed the bank heist and carjacking but did not kill Landry. Robert Taylor, 17, of Detroit is a codefendant in the murder case. His trial is to start Oct. 26. Watta was on the stand for almost two hours recalling that he saw Taylor, who he thought had a gun but didn't see one, and Maslamani involved in Landry's kidnapping. He said Taylor was looking around and was on the cell phone when the incident was occurring. He demonstrated with Assistant Prosecutor Bill Cataldo how Maslamani had Landry in a headlock. Watta, who was driving by the area, testified that he initially thought the Quiznos was going to be robbed. He stopped and banged on a door that is always locked at the store to alert someone inside, but no one answered. He said that he drove around, called 911, then saw Landry getting abducted. He said Taylor got into the back seat of the car and Maslamani got in the front driver's seat and the group left in a green, four-door car that prosecutors said is Landry's Honda Accord. [Page 2 of 2] Watta testified that he followed the car, which was only driving 5 to 6 m.p.h. and even slower when Watta thought the people in the car saw him. He said that he couldn't see inside the windows because they were tinted and that he stayed a far distance away because he "didn't want to get shot." Watta testified that he could see the back end of the car at Manchester and Gratiot ready to turn south on Gratiot as several police cars passed by going northbound. "They just went by. They missed us," Watta testified. During Watta's testimony, Landry's mother, Doreen Landry, who gave an emotional testimony Friday, rocked back and forth in a front-row seat in the courtroom. Landry's sister, Gina Coil, cried. During the trial, which continues today, Watta's approximately eight-minute 911 tape was played. On the tape he is heard saying, "They're beating him up now. Hurry up. Hurry. Hurry." After police arrived in the area, Watta indicated officers were behind the car, then he said that it was not the correct vehicle. Watta said that he identified Maslamani after seeing video of the Harrison Township bank robber on television and he notified police. He said he later picked him out of a photo lineup. Ryan Machasic, Maslamani's co-counsel, repeatedly asked Watta if Landry's car, of which Watta was shown pictures, was the same green car that was involved the actions he witnessed. Watta said, "It does look like the car." Machasic also questioned whether Watta saw Maslamani's full face and if some of the interaction between Landry and Maslamani might have appeared friendly as Watta testified in November in district court. He said that he intially assumed that but further testimony from the district court indicated that Watta didn't understand what was going on and that one of the men was more frantic. After a break after Watta's testimony, Judge Diane Druzinski - for the second time during the trial - reiterated to the courtroom that there is to be "absolutely, positively," no contact between Landry's family and friends and the defense attorneys. If so, she said, she would exclude those involved from the rest of the trial or find them in contempt of court. She did not give specifics on the recent contact between the two sides. Contact CHRISTINA HALL: 586-826-7265 or chall@freepress.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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