Defense Says Witnesses Alcantara, Holloway Were Accomplices In LeCroy Murder; Prosecution Says Carmody Was “The Muscle” In LeCroy Murder

  • Thursday, May 26, 2016
  • Jessica Kramer

Defense attorney Lee Ortwein said Manny Alcantara and Eddie Holloway, witnesses for the state in the Patrick Carmody trial, were accomplices to the robbery and murder of 21-year- old Chance LeCroy on Sept. 9, 2010.

Prosecutor Cameron Williams said Carmody was “the muscle” in the murder.

“(Carmody) starts beating (LeCroy) when he’s asleep. That’s what the old dog will do. That’s why you bring him. He’s the muscle,” Mr. Williams said.

After three days of the trial, prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments before the jury left to deliberate.

Attorney Ortwein said Carmody was not a part of the group of friends, including Alcantara, Holloway, Billy Bob Partin, Ronald Pittman, and Josh Dawson, who worked at Harbor Lights property in 2010.

Attorney Ortwein said the entire group knew about the robbery beforehand.

He said Alcantara drove Holloway and Partin to LeCroy’s house to show him where LeCroy lived.

“Sounds to me like there was a plan to commit this robbery from the beginning, and Mr. Pittman knew all about it,” attorney Ortwein said. “They’re all in on it, and they knew it from the beginning, and that is why their stories don’t quite match, cause they don’t know what to say.”

He told the jury to consider how much of the story came from Pittman.

“Mr. Pittman’s gonna say whatever Mr. Pittman needs to say to avoid going back to jail,” he said.

Prosecutor Williams said he wished all the pieces fit together perfectly, but that real life and murder were “messy.”

He said LeCroy’s family has been waiting six years for justice.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said.

“Emily Sailors said it best,” said prosecutor Kevin Brown. “However much dope or money was in that safe was not worth killing Chance LeCroy over. There is nothing worth (Carmody) going into Chance LeCroy’s house, going into his bedroom, beating him, and shooting him, and leaving him for dead.”

During prosecutor Brown’s closing arguments, relatives of LeCroy left the courtroom sobbing.

Before the jury left to deliberate, Judge Barry Steelman instructed that if they found Pittman, Alcantara, or Holloway to be accomplices to the crimes, they could not convict Carmody based on their uncorroborated testimony alone.

The state rested its case Wednesday morning after hearing testimony from Dr. James Metcalfe of the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office. Dr. Metcalfe told the jury LeCroy’s probable cause of death was two gunshot wounds. He said the victim might have survived the first shot, which passed through both of his lungs, but the second hit his heart.

Dr. Metcalfe also noted “deep splits in the skin” on LeCroy’s head, some of which resulted in fractures to the skull. He said the wounds could have been made by the butt of a gun, and that besides the wounds to the head LeCroy suffered 13 or 14 other injuries.

Attorney Ortwein asked if the two gunshot wounds could have come from the same gun. Dr. Metcalfe said it was possible.

One witness for the defense testified that Holloway told her Pittman had shot LeCroy, but she hadn’t given Holloway’s name to the police because she “didn’t know what kind of person Ronnie was.”

Josh Dawson testified that he saw Carmody, Pittman, and Partin drive by in a gray truck before lunch on Sept. 9. He said he had previously helped paint the truck because Pittman had told him to, and that he suspected it was stolen. He said he later found Carmody, Pittman, and Partin in his apartment, where Carmody was showering.

When asked why he didn’t initially give this information to the police, Dawson said, “I had been threatened if I ever said anything that it wouldn’t be good.”

Carmody chose not to testify, telling the judge he had nothing to offer.

“I believe the record is clear. It stands on itself,” he said.

The jury deliberated through the evening before deciding to continue Friday morning.

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