Prosecution rests its case in trial of former East Gaston High School wrestling coach
By Joe DePriest, The Charlotte Observer | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Defense attorney
A witness testifying Friday for the third day in the trial said under cross examination that he'd been high on cough medicine the night that he tried to kill the coach. He's the third man to testify during Goins' trial that he'd been molested by the wrestling coach.
The Observer's policy is not to publish the names of sexual abuse victims.
In earlier testimony, the witness told the jury he'd been sexually abused by Goins in high school. He also testified that when Goins learned he was being investigated by police in 2013 the coach asked the witness to kill him.
The witness recalled that Goins suggested death by shooting, but later selected strangulation. In April, 2013, the witness said he choked Goins unconscious and twisted a rope around his neck.
The witness said Goins had set the timer on his watch for eight minutes, the amount of time the witness was supposed to hold the rope. Above the noise from a storm, the witness said he thought he heard the timer go off, let go of the rope and ran away.
Goins later woke up and left the scene.
On Friday, under cross examination by defense attorney Ratchford, the witness acknowledged he'd been inebriated on cough medicine that night, but said he'd been under stress at the time.
"It was a crutch, like a bottle," the witness said, adding that being high didn't affect his recollection of details that night.
Under questioning by Gaston County Assistant District Attorney
Goins was concerned about his family, wanted his wife to get an insurance policy after his death and be able to keep the house, the witness recalled.
The jury watched a video of a
The detective characterized the incident as "basically a suicide by homicide."
"It's not everyday somebody comes in with a story like this," the detective said.
Prosecution witness
Apolinar recalled one time in which he shared the same hotel room with the witness, Goins and other wrestlers. Earlier, he'd noticed that Goins and the witness "were together a lot. The coach took him under his wing."
That night in the hotel room, Apolinar testified, Goins and the witness were in the same bed when the lights went out and from that direction Apolinar said he heard someone say "wait till they go to bed."
"I didn't know what it meant at the time," he said. "I couldn't see anything and I couldn't tell who was saying it. We joked about it the next day."
On cross examination by Ratchford, Apolinar said he heard nothing else for the rest of the night.
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