Opinion ID: 2581010
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Evidence of a contract or plan to kill Terry Guillory

Text: The prosecution presented substantial evidence to establish that defendant plotted to prevent Terry Guillory from testifying. That evidence consisted of (i) the testimony of Jacqueline Coghlan, who explained how defendant had arranged for her to deliver $1,000 to Solvang, and that this money was designed to ensure that the person whom she knew as the Oreo (Guillory) would not testify concerning his having seen defendant at the Pillow home on the night of the killings; (ii) the testimony of Inspector Sjostrand, who described the tape-recorded telephone call made to Solvang from Richard, in which the caller asked Solvang, Anything ever work out?; and (iii) defendant's letter to Donna Guthrie, mentioning that the cookie (Guillory) was practically begging them to let him help try to hang me but that Donna should [r]emind me when I talk to you to explain to you how one little mess can be cleaned. Although Coghlan stressed that the money was designed to persuade Guillory not to testify, or to prevent his testimony, she also asserted there was no plan to have Guillory killed. Nor was there any other evidence admitted to establish that the purpose of defendant's plot was to kill Guillory, rather than merely silence him by other means in order to ensure that he did not testify he had seen defendant peek out from the Pillow home on the evening of the killings. Nevertheless, during the course of Guillory's testimony, a number of references were made, by the witness and by the prosecutor, to a contract or plan to hit (that is, kill) Guillory.