Opinion ID: 1463584
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Murder of Pedro Newton

Text: Pedro Newton was a friend with whom Thomas had grown up. In January 2000, Newton acquired 100 grams of heroin from some Colombians, and he asked Thomas to help him find a buyer. Since Thomas did not deal in heroin, he introduced Newton to Henry Boobie Harley, who bought the heroin from Newton for $7,000. ( See Tr. 1390-95.) After making that sale to Boobie, Newton told Thomas and Boobie that Newton would soon have an additional 600 grams of heroin and that he hoped Boobie would buy that too. Boobie, however, decided that Newton should be robbed of the 600 grams of heroin, rather than paid for it ( see id. at 1395-96), and he wanted Newton killed in order to avoid any retaliation for the robbery ( see id. at 1978). After Boobie told Thomas of his plan, Thomas enlisted Hatcher to rob and kill Newton ( see id. at 728). Hatcher enlisted Payne, who had become Hatcher's robbing buddy ( id. at 729); and Payne and Hatcher then persuaded Thomas that they should rob [Newton] before `Boobie' and them get to rob him ( id. at 1398). To implement their plan, Thomas told Newton that Hatcher would buy the 600 grams of heroin, which Newton was to bring to Billy Lopez's house on January 27, 2000. When Newton arrived, Thomas escorted Newton to the basement, where Payne and Hatcher were hiding. Payne jumped out from behind a wall, put a gun to Newton's head, and ordered him to the floor; Thomas grabbed Newton's bag of heroin and ran back upstairs. ( See Tr. 732, 1402-03.) As Newton was lying on the floor with Payne's gun pointed at his head, Hatcher shot Newton in the base of the skull. ( See id. at 732-33.) Thomas thereafter sold Newton's heroin to Boobie for $30-$45,000. The proceeds were split among Thomas, Hatcher, and Payne, with Payne receiving $13,000. ( See id. at 738, 1412.)