Defense attorney accuses witness of lying about Iowa City homicide

IOWA CITY - On the afternoon of Oct. 8, 2009, Andrew Shepard was putting his groceries away and listening to music when his sister starting banging on the door.

She was upset, Shepard told jurors Friday while testifying in the first-degree murder trial of Charles W. Thompson.

“She said a man was lying down hurt on the stairs,” Shepard said.

He rushed to check it out and, Shepard testified, found a man lying on his left side, apparently holding his head. He also saw a gun lying near the man.

Shepard was the first person to call 911 in the moments after John Versypt, 64, of Cordova, Ill., was fatally shot in the Broadway Condominiums two years ago. Versypt owned some units in the complex and was in Iowa City that day to do maintenance, according to testimony.

Police say Versypt was shot in the head and hand with a .38 caliber revolver at close range during an attempted robbery. Officers did not immediately arrest anyone in the shooting, but Thompson, 19, was charged months later with first-degree murder.

Justin A. Marshall, 20, initially was considered a material witness in the case but was arrested and also charged last month with first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled for Jan. 17.

Shephard on Friday testified that as he was on the phone with the 911 operator after finding Versypt badly injured, he watched the man die.

“It's like he stopped breathing,” Shepard said to the 911 operator, according to a recording of the call that was played in court Friday.

Shepard testified that after police arrived at the scene, he cooperated with them and wanted to help their investigation because “a man didn't deserve to be killed.” To that end, Shepard testified, he agreed to set up a meeting with Thompson to talk about the shooting while wearing a police wire.

The conversation, which was played in

court Friday, recorded Shepard talking with Thompson, Marshall and some other individuals. In the recording, Shepard testified, Marshall is heard reacting in surprise to details about the homicide.

Shepard suggested Versypt was stabbed as well, and Marshall responded by saying, “He got stabbed too? Oh wow. Where'd he get shot though?”

Tyler Johnston, Thompson's defense attorney, suggested Thompson was the person who made that statement, but Shepard said it was Marshall. Shephard did testify, however, that Thompson repeatedly denied during that conversation having any involvement in the shooting.

“Hell no, not me man,” Thompson said in the recording.

Before Shepard took the stand Friday, James Brown, who also lived in the condo complex at the time of the shooting, testified.

Johnston repeatedly accused Brown of changing his testimony and lying on the stand.

Brown testified that he heard a loud pop at the time of the shooting and tried to open the door and see what happened. But, he said, his girlfriend blocked the door and wouldn't let him look out.

Johnston, assuming that Brown was lying, pressed him on that point Friday.

“You did see who shot John Versypt, didn't you?” Johnston said. “When you heard that pop, you opened the door and you looked, didn't you? You're afraid of who committed this crime, aren't you?”

Brown said, “No sir,” to all of those questions, but added, “I was afraid then, and I'm afraid now.”

Testimony will resume Monday in the trial, which is expected to last two weeks. District Attorney Janet Lyness said after court on Friday that the prosecution has seven to eight more witnesses to call.