No verdict reached in murder trial, case continues today

Published 10:04 pm Monday, December 8, 2008

Testimony is expected to continue for a second day today in the murder trial of Michael Streeter.

Streeter is charged with shooting and killing Joey Spinker in front of Brown’s Lounge in Brundidge on May 27, 2007. Streeter has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On Monday, an eyewitness and a former Brown’s Lounge security guard both placed Streeter at the scene on May 27.

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John Averett, 23 of Brundidge, said he met Spikner at the club the night he was murdered, and Averett testified that he saw Streeter fire the gun that killed Spikner from a dark blue Crown Victoria.

Averett said Streeter was not alone on the night of the incident and identified him as being with Bernard “BB” Cole and Mack Kelley. But, Averett said he did not see the three interact with anyone inside of the lounge. “By the time I got there, they were being escorted out,” Averett said.

One of the club’s former security guards, on the other hand, did see the men inside the club.

Willie Capal, who guarded the door on the evening of May 27, said he didn’t know the names of the three at the time but testified to escorting three men out of the club after they had an altercation with another of the club’s customers.

“I saw a tall, light skinned guy up in (a man’s) face on the dance floor,” Capal said. “They were just up in a guy’s face, and he wasn’t doing anything.”

Capal said he asked the three to leave, and while he didn’t know who they were that evening, Capal said he later could identify them as Streeter, Cole and Kelley.

Shortly after the three left the club, Capal said a crowd followed and gathered outside the lounge.

“Bloh, bloh, bloh, bloh, bloh” was the next thing he heard, as Capal testified to hearing between four and six shots ring out in front of the lounge.

Averett said he saw Kelley, Streeter and Cole get into a blue Crown Victoria, and he watched Kelley and Streeter shoot into the crowd.

“Mack Kelley was driving, and I saw him pull out a gun and shoot it once, but then it jammed,” Averett said.

With almost no time in between though, Averett said Streeter stood up from the passenger’s side of the vehicle, aimed a large gun at the crowd and fired six more shots.

“(He was) just shooting recklessly,” Averett said.

Averett also testified to being on the ground when the shots rang out, leaving room for questioning by Streeter’s attorney Susan James.

“You heard successive shots, but if you were on the ground not looking, you don’t know if Mack Kelley had gotten his gun going again,” James said.

James also questioned both witnesses, who said they had not known Streeter but knew who he was, on how they were able to identify the defendant.

Averett said he had seen the men at the After 7 Club in Troy on one prior occasion, also having an altercation. And, Capal said he was able to identify Streeter after seeing his photo published in a newspaper.

In Troy Police investigations, Corp. Lee Barnes said seven 40-caliber shell cases were recovered from the scene.

Three weapons were also recovered by Troy Police as the investigation continued, one brought to police by Kelley, which Averett identified as the weapon Kelley fired at the scene; another found in the wood line of Gardner Bassett Road; and a final Keltec rifle found submerged in water.

James questioned Barnes’ method of investigation, since Cole and Kelley, who were both suspects at one time, assisted heavily in the process.

“All weapons located in this case, all information was provided by these two who were suspects in this case,” James said.

The trial will convene at 9 a.m. today in Circuit Court at the Pike County Courthouse.