TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - On the ninth day of trial for an accused quadruple murderer, the defense began its case to prove Henry Segura is not guilty.
The defense spent Thursday trying to reveal other possible suspects in the case and undermine when the state said Brandi Peters and her children were killed.
The judge wouldn't allow testimony from James Carlos Santos, who pleaded the Fifth Amendment in a hearing Wednesday. But the defense brought up a letter mailed to Brandi Peters from a federal detention facility just two days before she was killed.
One of Brandi's neighbors testified that Brandi came to her house with that letter, which had a threatening message written on the envelope.
Part of it read "Death before dishonor. Word is bond. Bond is life. And a man should give his life before his word fails."
That neighbor, Ceisly Timmons, said Brandi was "freaked out" when she read it.
"Upon reading that, how did you feel about it?"
Timmons: "I was scared, too."
defense attorney Nathan Prince: "Scared of who?"
Timmons: "Carlos Santos, the person i had been looking up for her on my computer."
Prince: "Well, i don't want to get into that, but is that the person who the letter is from?"
Timmons: "Yes, sir."
Prince: "That's the name listed on the envelope."
The defense also brought up a wiretapped confession from a man named Demario Paramore, and they questioned an FBI agent about Angel Avila-Quinones, whose DNA was found at the crime scene.
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