Testimony continues in murder trial

Medical examiner, roommate of accused testify about Cagal’s death

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Gatewood

Testifying in the first-degree murder trial of Antoine Levelle Gatewood, 33, of Largo, the assistant state medical examiner who performed the autopsy of Emily Cagal, 23, said the injuries likely killed her within minutes.

‘‘I don’t think she was alive for a very long time,” Dr. Pamela E. Southall, assistant medical examiner for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore told the jury.

Gatewood faces charges of first-degree murder, burglary and robbery. He faces a maximum sentence of death if convicted. Prosecutors have said Gatewood killed Cagal and robbed her of a large amount of cash she made from selling drugs. Gatewood was a former boyfriend and occasional security guard for Cagal, who worked as an exotic dancer.

Deputy State’s Attorney John McCarthy said he expected to conclude the case against Gatewood by today.

Other testimony last week included Gatewood’s former roommate, Dion Desir, of Largo, who pleaded guilty in July to accessory after the fact for his role in Cagal’s death.

In a flat, impassive voice, Desir described in graphic detail how he helped his roommate dispose of Cagal’s body and clean up the crime scene.

Desir said Gatewood came to him for help the night he killed Cagal. Gatewood also faces robbery and burglary charges in the March 2 killing.

‘‘He said they got into a fight and he hit her,” Desir told the jury. ‘‘And he kept hitting her and he said he reached a point where he just couldn’t stop. He said any time he heard a sigh, he just hit her again.”

Desir will be sentenced later this month. He has been held without bond since his March 12 arrest and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors are expected to recommend a reduced sentence of 15 to 18 months as part of a plea agreement.

Defense attorney Steven D. Kupferberg questioned Desir about the plea agreement during cross-examination Thursday:

‘‘All I had to do was tell the truth,” Desir said.

‘‘And tell them what they wanted to hear, right?” Kupferberg said.

‘‘Just tell the truth,” Desir said. ‘‘I told them what I saw happen.”

‘‘You didn’t minimize your involvement at all?” Kupferberg asked.

‘‘I told them everything I did,” Desir said.

Prosecutors have said Gatewood, Cagal’s former bodyguard and boyfriend, killed Cagal over a large amount of cash she had made by selling drugs.

Desir testified Thursday that Gatewood came home the night of March 2, driving Cagal’s SUV, and told him he had killed Cagal and taken about $50,000 from her safe. Desir said Gatewood asked him to go to the store and purchase gloves, duct tape, plastic and cleaning supplies to clean up the crime scene and move the body.

Desir said he did not believe Gatewood had killed Cagal at first because Gatewood often exaggerated. But when he went with Gatewood to Cagal’s apartment, he found her lying face down in her bedroom with a large pool of blood near her head.

While Desir attempted to clean up the blood stains on Cagal’s carpet, he said Gatewood piled up all her high-end electronic equipment, televisions and computers into the middle of the room.

‘‘He said we need to take this stuff out of here so it makes it look like she just up and left,” Desir said.

Desir testified that he also disposed of the weapon Gatewood used to kill Cagal, a ceramic gargoyle statue bookend.

‘‘It was like a brick, basically,” Desir said. ‘‘It felt like the weight of a brick.”

McCarthy showed jurors about a dozen photographs from the apartment building’s surveillance cameras, in which Desir identified himself and Gatewood carrying various items in and out of the apartment, including a wicker basket containing Cagal’s body.