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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Prosecutors have rested their case after 10 days of testimony against a man accused of killing his wife and colleague in a sports gambling ring at his Columbia home.
Attorneys for Brett Parker began presenting their witnesses Thursday in a Richland County courtroom. Lawyers called an insurance agent and financial planner who testified that Parker wanted his wife's insurance money to go to their children. They also called witnesses who testified Parker appeared normal the morning of the shootings.
Prosecutors said Parker killed his wife, Tammy, and business partner Bryan Capperhurst in April 2012 with two separate guns in an attempt to frame his friend.
Parker told investigators that Capnerhurst was angry about money he was owed and shot his wife, then held him at gunpoint until he could get to another gun he stored on top of a safe and kill his friend.
During the two weeks of testimony, prosecutors poked several holes in Parker's story. He said Capnerhurst started shooting almost immediately after entering the couple's home, but a surveillance tape shows Capnerhurst entered the home 11 minutes before Parker called 911 to report the shooting. Parker's attorneys suggested he was under a great deal of stress when he was questioned immediately after the shooting and may have been confused about the timing of what happened.
The gun used to kill Tammy Parker was found in Capnerhurst's left hand, but a medical examiner testified Brett Parker's first shot broke Capnerhurst's left arm, making it unlikely he could have held on to the gun. Defense attorneys suggested the shot could have caused a spasm that made Capnerhurst's grip tighten.
Prosecutors also called several witnesses who testified Capnerhurst didn't own a gun and never had shot one. But defense attorneys called Parker's 14-year-old daughter to the stand, and she testified she heard her father talk to Capnerhurst about a gun he gave his business partner.
One of the final witnesses called by prosecutors was Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who said he met with Parker six times at Parker's request during the three months between the shooting and his arrest.
Lott recalled their last meeting just before Parker was charged last July. He said he told Parker that the evidence unearthed by his investigators wasn't matching Parker's version of what happened.
"I said his story just did not fit the evidence," Lott said. "That he was trying to take a square peg and fit it into a round hole and it just did not fit."
