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Carruth trial: Day 19 Admitted triggerman begins testimony
Updated: Wednesday December 20, 2000 10:28 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The man who admitted shooting Rae Carruth's pregnant girlfriend testified Wednesday that the former NFL player planned the slaying for six months. Van Brett Watkins was called by defense lawyers, who apparently hoped he would confirm a jailhouse statement that he shot Cherica Adams because he was angry at Carruth. Instead, Watkins said the former Carolina Panthers receiver planned the attack. "I was very afraid of Rae Carruth," Watkins said. "He made me do it." Watkins pleaded guilty to the 1999 drive-by shooting of Adams, who was eight months' pregnant with Carruth's child. The baby survived; Adams died a month later. Prosecutors contend Carruth arranged the shooting because he didn't want to pay child support. Carruth, 26, could be sentenced to death if convicted.
Watkins has said Carruth offered him $5,000 to assault Adams and hurt her baby. He agreed to testify against Carruth, but was never called as a prosecution witness. Watkins expressed remorse for Adams' death and covered his face with his hand when defense lawyer David Rudolf played a portion of her panicked 911 call after she was shot. Carruth's mother and Adams' stepmother left the courtroom sobbing during the testimony, which was watched on television by about 20 Panthers players at Ericsson Stadium. According to police, Watkins said in jail that he shot Adams because he was angry at Carruth for backing out of a drug deal and because Adams made an obscene gesture at him. "It was Rae's fault," a deputy recalled Watkins saying. "If he had just given us the money none of this would have happened." Watkins' lawyers have denied he made the statement. On Wednesday, Watkins insisted Carruth planned the shooting. "This wasn't a one-day affair," Watkins said. "It was six months. He dragged me into something I didn't want to be involved in." Watkins won't be sentenced until after the trials of Carruth and two other men, but he did avoid a possible death sentence with his plea bargain.
Watkins said he takes two medications prescribed by a psychiatrist. He denied a past diagnosis of mental illness, saying he faked the condition so he could serve time in a mental hospital instead of prison. Watkins admitted committing a number of violent crimes, including stabbing his older brother and pistol-whipping a man. He said he once threatened to kill a woman and her children if they testified against him and had threatened to kill two police officers. "All those people lived the same lifestyle, in the jungle," Watkins said, turning to the jury. "We're not like y'all. If you swing in the jungle, you're going to get hurt." Outside court, Rudolf said Watkins was a career criminal who has lied throughout his adult life to try to escape justice.
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