State expected to rest soon in murder trial

Defense to present alibi witness for Taylor, accused in ’07 shooting

By Bill Byrd

FAIRMONT — A trial for a Randolph County man accused of fatally shooting another man to pay off a drug debt will continue Monday in Marion County Circuit Court.

Marion Prosecutor Patrick N. Wilson is expected to rest the state’s case soon against Lincoln S. Taylor for his alleged role in the slaying of Derrick D. “Lil’ D” Osborne.

Wounded three times as he got out of a car shortly before midnight on May 28, 2007, Osborne, 22, collapsed and died after running a short distance from his assailant. The shooting occurred on Highland Drive in Bellview.

Paul J. Harris, Taylor’s defense lawyer, said Taylor, 24, has an alibi. An old girlfriend will testify that he was with her in Buckhannon on the night of the murder, Harris has told the jury of eight women and four men.

The state doesn’t have an eyewitness to the shooting. It also doesn’t have any forensic evidence, such as fingerprints, bloodstains and DNA evidence that ties Taylor to the crime, Harris said.

The defense theory is that Donnell D. “Nels” Lee, 24, was the gunman, Harris argues. Lee and Osborne had argued over money and a girlfriend, he said. The defense has witnesses who will say Lee told them that he had shot Osborne, Harris said.

Harris has also painted a sharply differing portrait of Taylor, stressing that until his arrest on July 4, 2007, he had never been in trouble.

The jury heard last week that Lee and two other men also charged with the crime are facing prison sentences.

Lafayette Y. “Goldy” Jenkins Jr., 25, of Fairmont and Steven H. Podolsky, 24, also of Huttonsville, have agreed to plead guilty to lesser offenses.

Lee was convicted in a trial in August for first-degree murder and conspiracy for his role.

Lee told police he showed the shooter and his get-away driver where Osborne was living. He also described Osborne and the car Osborne was driving at the time to them.

Witnesses in that five-day trial said Osborne, a native of Columbia, S.C., and a new drug dealer in the city, had a “beef” or argument with Lee and Jenkins.

Jenkins was the leader of a drug crew in which Lee was a member. Jenkins was selling drugs to Taylor and Podolsky for resale in Randolph County, according to state witnesses who testified last week.

In his opening last Monday, Wilson said Taylor had become involved in Fairmont’s drug scene after being forced to leave the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Taylor left West Point for academic reasons.

In the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007, Taylor was enrolled at Fairmont State University. He was living with a woman that he had been dating since high school and while he was at West Point.

Taylor was the class president, valedictorian and captain of the football team at Tygarts Valley High School when he graduated in 2002.

“Earlier in his life, he had a lot going for him,” Wilson said.

“Why would a person who has all that going for him end up affiliating himself with thieves, drug dealers, burglars and murderers?”

The state’s investigation shows that Taylor really wanted to go to West Point but when he flunked out he changed, the prosecutor said.

He played a tape of a key statement Lee gave police shortly after his arrest in June in Martinsburg on unrelated charges.

After giving his version of the beef between Osborne and himself and Jenkins, Lee said Jenkins found “Link” or Taylor as the person who would kill Osborne. Taylor owed Jenkins about $2,000 at that time for drugs, Lee said.

In his testimony, Podolsky gave the jury a detailed account of how he drove Taylor to Osborne’s house on the night of the murder.

Taylor got a .40 caliber Glock pistol from Jenkins. The pistol was similar to Taylor’s own .40 caliber pistol, one which he was rarely without, Podolsky and other witnesses have said.

The two longtime friends had scouted out the scene earlier, taking a drive-by with Jenkins and Lee about a week and a half earlier, Podolsky said.

Taylor put on an all-black outfit, including a black toboggan. The black long-sleeved shirt he was wearing came from Jenkins. Taylor also had taken about $20 from Jenkins to buy black sweatpants and a pair of cheap, slip-on running shoes, Podolsky said.

Podolsky said he dropped Taylor off near Osborne’s apartment where there was some shrubbery. He drove on down the narrow residential street where he parked in a small pulloff. Both men then waited for Osborne to arrive.

When Harris pressed him about not being able to see Taylor actually pulling the trigger, Podolsky agreed. He had parked Taylor’s car facing away from the apartment, which was about 75 yards to the rear.

As he testified in Lee’s trial, Podolsky said Lee was not at the scene. He wasn’t with him and Taylor, he said.

But Podolsky also said he couldn’t see whether Osborne, who was driving his girlfriend’s car, had any passengers in his vehicle when it passed him going the other way to the apartment.

A neighbor who had just put out his dog for the last time that night testified that he heard a commotion in front of the apartment. It seemed there were at least two people, and maybe more, said Tom Cale. Cale said his focus was on getting his dog under control and then running back to his house with bullets whistling past his head.

Even if Lee was present, Wilson said in his opening, it doesn’t take away Taylor’s responsibility for the crime.

The trial was suspended last Tuesday for the Veterans Day holiday.

Marion Chief Circuit Court Judge David R. Janes has cleared his docket this week for the trial.

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.