Witness details theft plot
6/7/2008A woman who said she was with three men in an Ohio Street home just hours before they were murdered testified in Lucas County Common Pleas Court yesterday that the trio had stolen drugs and cash from the man now charged with their slayings.
Rosetta Perry, 27, said she was at the home of Todd Archambeau the night of Oct. 23 when he and two other men developed a plan to break into Stoney Thompson's nearby apartment.
She said she left the home in the early morning of Oct. 24. Later that morning, she learned Archambeau, 44; Kenneth Nicholson, 41, and Michael York, 44, had been found dead in the bloody, boarded-up home.
"[York] knew where Stoney kept his cash and drugs," she testified. "He said, 'We should go rob him.'•"
Perry, who has several misdemeanor convictions, was among the last of the witnesses to testify during the weeklong trial.
Thompson, 28, and his brother, Goldy, 30, are charged with three counts of aggravated murder, each with a firearm specification. Goldy Thompson is to go on trial July 7.
Throughout the week, assistant county prosecutors questioned law enforcement, Thompson's friends and acquaintances, and three men who are in custody on unrelated convictions. The defense called two witnesses to testify on Thompson's behalf.
Attorney Drew Griffith questioned a neighbor and a friend of one of the victims who went to the home that night and later called 911.
Each said they told police they had heard four gunshots about 4:10 p.m. and saw two men - one white and one black - run from the house.
Susan Adams, who lives near the home and is a block watch leader in the neighborhood, testified she was awakened by gunshots early Oct. 24.
Through a window, Ms. Adams saw a white man running away from the home, followed a few seconds later by a black man who came out of the back door of the house.
Neither was Stoney Thompson, she testified.
When questioned by Assistant County Prosecutor Jevne Meader, Ms. Adams said she believed the black man emerging from the house was his older brother, Goldy.
Ms. Adams said she heard no other noises from the house.
Mr. Griffith said he will call additional witnesses to testify Monday, including a Toledo police detective.