Killing the Messenger Murder Case: Opening Statements

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I want to take this moment to thank you again for being here and being a part of this integral job that you have as being a juror in a very important case in all aspects. What I would say is that you all have the most important job in this criminal process and that monumental task is to be able to evaluate all the information that has been presented to you and determine whether what we brought here is guilty of all of the counts that he's been indicted on. He's been indicted on five counts and those counts are indicative of what he did to the victim and deceded believe it all. Let me walk into those counts. Count one, murder. That's one of the things that was talked about on numerous occasions during your board here and during the process brought by the judge, County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll in defense is murder. But that's not the only count that we have and that was brought in space. You have count two, which is murder, but it's also called felony murder. Count three, filoings assault. Count four, kidnapping. And count five, felony murder, which we refer to or coincide with that kidnapping. Let me walk you through each of those pieces of the counts. You hear evidence and you will see evidence that will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that William Brock is guilty of each of those counts. First, you'll hear 911 call. That's going to bring everyone to the scene of this crime. Now, it may initially appear that he's doing the right thing. He's calling the police, making a report or he's reporting that someone else is making a threat, a scam that was brought up on various occasions. But if you listen to his statements on the way he said in that call, it'll be the beginning of a series of cascading effective contradictory statements made by him that will be presented through the testimony from law enforcement. You'll start to get into his subjective thought. What he thought was the right thing to do at that time. Unfortunately, that's subjective thought that he thinks was justification for shooting someone. The untimely died because he thought or he was schemed. The problem with that subjective mindset is you're leaving out the objectivity of it. The act doesn't justify the task of taking the life of another because words scared him. You'll hear testimony from the on scene law enforcement personnel and they'll testify about his subjective thought, his subjective version of his crime. However, you'll also hear from law enforcement how much he creates facts that are not present. And that's information that you will take into account when you saw at the scene of his crime. Again, objectively, a reasonable person would not create those scenarios. Simply, they're not there. You will not only see, but hear that dash cam video that was inside the lethal's vehicle. You'll hear statements made by Mr. Brock in that dash cam video. And what you'll hear, one of the aspects is how he was in full control of Lolita's life at that point. And it will show you what he purposely did to her. His purpose was to cause physical harm to Lolita with a deadly weapon. You'll see that with the deadly weapon that he's holding in the team. That is one assault. You'll hear various gunshots that he fired into her. Again, subjectively, he believed the shooting more than once will prevent her from harming him. However, what you will see from that video is an elderly, defenseless woman who presented no harm or immediate danger to him while he was holding the keys to her life at that moment. Objectively, a reasonable person would not shoot the defenseless woman multiple times to protect themselves from words of a scammer. When I say multiple, not one, not two, not three, but six to protect himself. Now, I mentioned a couple of times as far as him having or him being in control of her life. What you'll also see from that video is how he controlled her. He restrains her liberty to leave. You will one, see how he's restraining her liberty and preventing her from getting into the vehicle that she arrived in. Two, from his words telling her she cannot leave. And three, holding her at gunpoint so that she's not able to. Ladies and gentlemen, jury, that's kidnapping. One of the counts that he was indicted. You will hear testimony as to how she passed away. While he was under her control. While he was holding that gun and preventing it from leaving. Goes into the felony murder of the kidnapping. In addition to that dash camera, you'll hear it, hear evidence from the scene. That would include photos, testimony from various law enforcement officers, personnel that would present actual facts that an objective person would take into account. And pause and ask themselves. Will they shoot someone multiple times before assessing the scene? You'll hear a testimony from doctors detailing her condition. The life-saving measures that they performed will ultimately cause her demise. In that testimony, you'll hear from doctors will prove that actions caused felony murders stemming from the felonious assaults of causing physical harm to her by shooting her multiple times with a deadly weapon. One of the things that was brought up was first impression. We don't take these cases lightly. We come to you and we bring the evidence for you or to you in a matter of seriousness of these crimes. It is our duty and our job to show you that and we will based on all of the information that is going to be presented to you. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you will see and hear that William By purposely caused the death to low lead the law. You will see and hear they did that with a deadly weapon. You will see and hear that her death was caused by first restraining her liberty, by preventing her from leave, and then caused serious physical harm to her by shooting her multiple times. Subjectively, and again, the mindset comes into play when you're assessing this. You thought this was okay because it was scary. But the words of a far person. Objectively, a reasonable person would not kidnap and ultimately murder a defenseless person because they were scheming. And ladies and gentlemen, the jury, the evidence you are about to see and hear will prove that Louitha Hall should be alive right now. [00:09:16] Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, the jury, you haven't heard the story. They haven't told you anything of what their investigation actually showed. They didn't tell you what actually happened on that mortal. So let me tell you the whole truth. The whole story without leaving parts out. Bill Brock, born 1942 in August. Married for 52 years. His wife passed away in 2014. His father died when he was 17. He took over to the farm at 17. Lived it. Born in the house that you were in today. Actually, the one right next to it. And has lived there since the 60s. The house that you were in. He lived alone in that house for the last 10 years before this happened. The first thing you saw in that when you went to the place this morning was the front door. Some of you went up to the front door area. On that day, there was still a Christmas tree in front of you. It had been there since his wife had died. He hadn't gone through the front door in almost 10 years. That's the door they took his wife out. It's 8:36 in the morning. It's dry. It's March. Bill's getting ready to spread fertilizer. Nothing else on his mind. He gets a phone call. He gets a phone call from a very sophisticated organization organized crime ring. That's what I'll call it. We can use different names. But it's more than one person and they're part of this scam. And it may be international. And it's not your normal one that calls up and tries to see if you'll take out a loan. This group's way more sophisticated than that. They call up Bill. They say, Bill, Matt, has been arrested. Now, Bill had been spending time with a friend of his. Her name's Rebecca, Becky. Becky has a grandson named Matt. They didn't live together. They just spent time together and went to church together and things like that. But they're close enough that when they say that Matt, your grandson, is in jail. And he needs your help. That meant something too. And the person they called wasn't like a scammer saying you better do this. It was a guy named Joe. He gave his last name, who was supposed to be a criminal defenseman. And Joe was going to be representing Matt. And Joe, Joe, tells Bill that Matt's in jail. The bond's going to be 24,000, but if you get 12,000 cash, Matt can get out. Now, the story was that Matt, who's a truck driver, had hit somebody on 42, a woman, in a car. She was pregnant. And both of them passed away. It was really serious. So they spend about 30 minutes on the phone. And you'll see the phone records. And they hang up. He calls back. Say a check on something. And he said, it's really important, Bill, that you keep this line open. And you're not calling anybody else. Because when I call you, I'm going to need all this stuff. And Bill's buying it. He goes and gets the cash. Has the cash in. Yes. But you're going to have to see that outside. Sorry, there's a separation of witnesses. They have the cash. And you'll see the cash. When the police come, they have the cash. They find the cash with the table ready. You'll see Bill's notepad, where he's taking down all the information that this scammer. I'll call him a scammer, but it's more than that. This is organized crime. He's writing down all the information. He has a case number. There's a judge that he says, named Judge Dent. Who allegedly was the judge in town here, who was going to be hearing the case. There's no Judge Dent in Springfield. But Judge Dent then gets on the phone in the second call. Saying that he's getting ready to go on vacation. It's really important you bring this down. Because once he goes on vacation, he won't be able to post the bond. Bill's buying into all this. He's got the cash. And then this scammer says, I'll need you to come down to the courthouse. And there'll be a lady, named Lolita, in a black sedan, at the courthouse, in the parking lot, at a specific address on Main Street. I want you to bring that money down. About the end of that conversation, the judge gets back on the phone and says how important it is. Bill asks the judge, what's Matt's last name? And the judge hangs up. Bill then, you'll be able to see his records, tries to call Becky. You just saw her walk in and you'll probably see her on the stand later. And he tries to call Matt, and he tries to call Matt's dad, Mark, who's Becky's son. To try to figure out what's going on. Becky doesn't answer the phone. She's out doing something. Matt and Mark also don't answer the phone. They're out doing something. You'll see this on the phone. He's trying to get in touch with people that can't. Not knowing if this is a scam or real, since he can't get in touch with anyone. He calls the scammer back, thinking he's calling the lawyer back. The lawyer answers. And they're talking. And they're going back and forth on how to pay. And Joe's saying what to do. And all of a sudden, Joe says, do you want to talk to Matt one more time? Because we're going to save you coming down the courthouse and meeting Lolita in the sedan here. There's going to be a black sedan that's just going to pull into your driveway. Puts Matt, his grandson, back on the phone. Bill says, Matt, what's your last name? And he gets it wrong. It's close. But it's not right. He says, Matt, what kind of truck do you drive? He said, a Ford 350. He's got a Dodge if we're talking the pickup. And he drives a Volvo Semi if we're talking semis. And this is where it really changed. Because at that moment, the phone gets handed to somebody else. And this person starts screaming at Bill. Threatening to kill him. Threatening to kill everyone in his family. He's saying, the black car is now in your driveway. We have drones above your property watching. And you and he starts screaming at him the way Bill's probably never been talked to. Cuss me. You'll hear the names. If you don't pay this money right now, I'm going to kill you. And I'm going to kill the people that are close to you. I'm going to kill Matt. I'm going to kill your family. And I'm in black sedans there. Now, there's going to be a series of questions about this black sedan. It had tinted windows in the back so you couldn't see who was in the back of it. From the kitchen. Bill looks out and sees that there's this black sedan sitting in his driveway. And then someone from the black sedan gets out of it. It had been sitting there for 20 minutes or a half hour. Bill didn't know because it had been sitting there until he looked. And within a minute or two of him being said, I've got a drone over your house and I'm going to kill you if you don't give the money. Bill just thinks he's dead either way. He gives the money, he don't give the money. He's out there by himself. He can't call him or talk to him. Miss Hall walks through that door that said no trespass. Through that breezeway there. Into the back porch of the house. Goes to that storm door that's glass. Bill has it just barely, barely open. Just sort of like this. Not really thinking that somebody's going to be coming in because he thought he was driving downtown because of the money. And he sees Miss Hall open the door, the storm door, and step up those two steps into that office space. And she says, I'm here for the package. When the scammer, if you want to call him that, the organized crime representative or that group, said that they were going to kill him, Bill went and got an old .22 caliber pistol. And he had it trying to figure out what his next step was going to do. And as she starts coming to the door and walking in, he's going towards the door with a gun. And she enters the property, enters the room, the kitchen, or the office, without consent. Essentially, she's a burglar at this point, whether she knows it or not. The scammer had told Bill, if you don't give her the money, and I don't get a call from her, saying that she has the money, I'm sending the man in your bed. Bill, when she says, I'm here for the package, it's confirmation that she's part of this to him, obviously. She's in his house, as a burglar, with the scammer saying they're going to kill him with a drone over the house. Bill's bags around. Just give me the phone. Just give me the phone. He's just trying to buy him in. He's not trying to shoot him. He's not trying to kill him. He's not trying to do anything. He's trying to get the phone, because that phone is a problem. She's saying, help, help. Bill's already been told for the last two hours, three hours, four hours, that this is a scam and stuff. The information is trying to process. He said, just give me the phone. She won't give him the phone. She won't give him the phone. They go to her house, to her car. They're out in the driveway. The driveway part that's closest to the house there that you guys all walked in. He said, give me the phone or I'll shoot you in the leg. She wouldn't give him the phone. He shot her in the leg. He's looking. They get around the other side of the car. She's trying to get in the car. He doesn't know if she's trying to get a weapon or what she's trying to do. Maybe she's trying to leave. She starts slamming the door on his head, creating multiple stitches to his ear and to his head. And then more shots are fired. He calls 911 to try to get help there. 911 shows up seven or ten minutes later. She's still alive. He's still sitting there with the gun. They're trying to bring in a helicopter to care flight Ms. Hall out of there. So she's been shot. She's still alive. He's telling the police to tell the helicopters to be careful because there's drones in the air. They're still around from this guy. The scammer. They take Bill's phone from him and if he calls 911, the police. The scammer starts trying to call. He calls 20 more times, trying to figure out what's going on. At one point, not the first or the second time, the third or the fourth time, the police pick up. And then Detective Cruz answers the phone. And the scammer at that point, hearing that there's somebody else and not Bill on the phone, starts trying to bully Detective Cruz. Well, this is the officer. And Detective Cruz is saying, "Who?" And he says, "Oh, you're in trouble." And then this scammer is so good that he actually was able to get information out of a trained detective and a good one. He hangs up when Detective Cruz says, you know, we're the police or whatever and she's been in an accident. And then he calls back, has the, puts the call back. He tries to figure out where Bill is. He tries to figure out, I don't know, I assume where the money is. Detective Cruz says that Bill's now talking to the police, which obviously is, blows any chance of having him to come show up. That he called 20 sometimes. Now this was on March 25th. 2024. December 16th. 2024. He sends me an email. Tells me if I win this case, I don't know that there's any way that these things are related. There's no evidence that they're related. This is way out of my house. It's showing the threats on going. Sends me an email. To my office. Yeah, the office. You might be watching now. And he says, he says. [00:26:13] Speaker 1: I guess Mr. Rob can make up, he wants his part of his own. I have an email. [00:26:19] Speaker 2: It seems to me that there's no connection between the two or there's been no connection. Thank you. He says he'll gladly take my life if I win this case. When Bill went to the hospital that day, they did a CT scan of him. To see how he was to make sure there wasn't any internal bleeding. But that CT scan was able to develop some objective information about Bill. I guess when you get older you have something called brain atrophy. Your brain shrinks. It doesn't function as well. And your blood vessels within your brain don't work as well. And you have minor brain death in various regions of your brain. That affect your ability to process information in the way that a younger person can. It's not that you can't. It just takes you longer to process it sometimes. You're going to hear from doctors that Bill suffers from both those conditions. You had a team of professional thieves, scammers, dangerous people. And threatened to take his life. You have Ms. Hall, who you guys will have to make this call on this one. She very well may be a completely innocent victim of this, as I'll argue later that Bill is. But there's some facts that don't make sense. We know that the scammer has Lolita Hall's information way before the Uber records would show that the scammer was in contact with Ms. Hall. We have Ms. Hall coming from Columbus for this job. And she puts in her GPS coming this direction on 7th. And then going to South Charleston and ultimately to his address. Which is not something you would randomly pass by under any scenario. You have her communicating with somebody. And you'll hear it. You'll hear the video. I'm not suggesting that Ms. Hall would be on the level at all of these scammers. But there may be something more involved than her just simply getting an Uber call from a scammer and responding to it. There really might be. That will be to argue in closing. But you'll get the facts of that. The 12 of you will be the first 12 people to actually hear all the facts of the case. In all of the statements that the prosecutor spoke about in his opening, the police were actually just picking up pieces of what Bill was saying as he's being treated by medics. They take him in the hospital and then they release him. The FBI is involved in the case dealing with this scammer. And they've separated the two cases. The FBI on one side and this case on this side for some reason. So it's partially the case we don't have access to them all because that's an ongoing investigation. But there's four things in self-defense. The state would have to prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that Bill had something to do with creating the situation. That Bill did not have an honest belief that he was in imminent fear of death or serious physical harm. Obviously that's not true. That Bill didn't have a reasonable belief when he's told that he's going to be killed. That there's drones over his head and then a black sedan with tinted windows shows up in his house. And somebody's never seen before comes out and burglary enters his house without permission. He trespasses and says I'm here for the package. Obviously that would be a reasonable belief. The last thing they'd have to prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt. that Bill's use of force was unreasonable in circumstances. Bill believed that he was going to die. Die. And that Matt was going to die. If Miss Hall made a phone call to these people. Saying that they didn't get their money. He also believed that if he did give the money. That they just smoked. They're that cold. Those are the facts you're going to hear. And there's specific objective evidence to prove every piece of that. And after you hear that evidence. You put yourself in his shoes with his conditions. And the judge will tell you. That if the belief was honest. Even mistaken. In other words. If Miss Hall was a complete innocent. Was just there. And had no idea of anything. But he honestly believed. And there was a good faith belief. That she was part of that organization. Even if mistaken. Your verdict must be not. Thank you. Thank you.