FORT WORTH -- A friend connected to the Zetas drug cartel coerced defendant Randy Seibel into helping rob a Valero convenience store in 2010, his attorney told a Tarrant County jury Tuesday.
Seibel didn't expect anyone to die, and it was ringleader Kwame Rockwell who pulled the trigger, killing a gas station attendant and a Mrs Baird's deliveryman, attorney Wes Ball said.And Rockwell has already been sentenced to death, Ball said.Testimony began Tuesday in Seibel's trial on a capital murder charge. He's accused of participating in the killing of Jerry Burnett, a 70-year-old bread truck driver, and clerk Daniel Rojas-Torres on March 22, 2010, during the botched robbery of the store at 4125 Mansfield Highway.Prosecutors Sean Colston and Kevin Rousseau told jurors that they will explain later the "law of parties" that makes Seibel responsible in the two deaths even if he didn't pull the trigger.The prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. If convicted, Seibel will automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole.Before testimony began Tuesday, Ball said the shootings of Burnett and Rojas-Torres surprised Seibel. Rockwell is connected to the Zetas Mexican drug cartel, Ball said, and he threatened his accomplices and took photos of them in case they backed out.The co-defendants thought the store would have a large stash of cash because of its check-cashing business, Ball said. The robbers wore masks because they worked next door at a car lot and thought they would be recognized, Ball said.Rockwell told his accomplices that "no one would get hurt," Ball said. "Two or three steps into the door, Kwame Rockwell deviates from his plan and shoots Burnett and then he shoots Daniel."A third man poured gasoline throughout the store and over Burnett to destroy evidence, but he was interrupted by a customer who arrived just as the robbery was concluding, prosecutors said. The third accomplice didn't have time to set the fire, according to testimony.Witness Victor Harris testified that he stopped at the Valero for a cup of coffee after getting off work at Bell Helicopter, as he had done many times over the past 15 years.When he pulled his SUV into the parking lot, he saw a man wearing a mask and holding a gas can run out of the store. It was about 6:20 a.m., Harris said."It looked kind of funny to me at first," he said."I did not realize the store was being robbed. The next thing I saw was a man with a mask. He pointed a pistol at me and I heard a clicking noise. I ran, zigzagging across the street to the pawnshop, and while I was running, I called 911. I was still looking back to make sure no one was coming after me."Prosecutors also played a 911 call from Burnett. On the tape, a dispatcher told the wounded man that an ambulance was on the way.Burnett asked them to hurry.Burnett lived 10 days after he was shot, his widow, Sue Burnett, testified."I did not see him when he left for work that morning," she said. "There were times at the hospital when he would open his eyes a little bit and I thought he knew I was there."But I never heard him speak again," she said.Testimony continues today in state District Judge Mike Thomas' court.Mitch Mitchell, 817-390-7752Twitter: @mitchmitchell3Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
