Another witness recalls Ohio murders

For the second day in a row, a close friend of Vernon Spence's testified that he was with Spence when the man decided to shoot three people inside a Columbus, Ohio, house, but that the killings weren't the original plan.

Rodell K. Rahmaan, 28, said he was recruited by Spence and Todd Bensonhaver to rob a minor marijuana dealer of some drugs and cash.

Once there on July 22, 2003, they found Aaron Grexa, Eric Hlass and Grexa's girlfriend, Kayla Hurst, inside the Ohio State University-area home.

Grexa, a 1998 graduate of Hempfield Area High School, was 23 at the time of his death.

All three were bound with stereo wire before Spence indicated he was going to shoot them.

Bensonhaver and Rahmaan both testified that they ran from the house when Spence said that, and that they heard gunshots as they fled to a waiting car with $70 in cash and a briefcase filled with about 5 pounds of marijuana.

''I didn't even grasp what was going on at the time. As far as I was concerned, we left him (Spence) in the house,'' Rahmaan said.

But Rahmaan also testified that Spence ran after them and jumped inside their car. The three men spent the night together discussing details of what happened and snorting cocaine, he said.

''He said, 'We're staying together tonight,''' Rahmaan recalled Spence saying. ''I didn't argue with him.''

Spence, 31, has pleaded not guilty in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to multiple counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in the slayings. He could receive the death penalty if convicted of the murder charges.

Prosecutors contend that Spence killed the three when he realized Grexa and Hlass, 22, could identify him from a marijuana-buying visit two days before at the house Grexa and Hlass shared on E. 11th Avenue.

Hurst, 21, dated Grexa, but earlier testimony showed they didn't expect her to be there.

Defense attorneys Gerald Sunbury and Thomas Charlesworth told jurors there is no proof Spence was involved, despite the testimony of the other two, who they have noted are convicted felons who got plea deals for testifying.

Rahmaan and Bensonhaver testified this week that after the slayings they tried to distance themselves from Spence.

''I told him those weren't my bodies. If he had taken responsibility for this maybe none of this would be happening,'' Rahmaan said. ''As far as I was concerned, we were never in the clear. It was just a matter of time before we were arrested."

Federal agents working with Columbus police focused on Bensonhaver, 27, and Rahmaan when they became involved in an undercover cocaine bust in September 2004 and Bensonhaver's fingerprint was matched to the house where the three were killed in 2003.

Both eventually confessed and agreed to testify against Spence. Each will serve at least 21 years in prison for their roles in the slayings.

Their sentences will be served concurrently with a 10-year federal prison sentence for drug trafficking.