Ryan Patrick Hare, 19, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Matthew Silliman in December, 2008.
Police have implicated three other teens in the murder: Aadil Shaaid Kahn, 18, Allegra Rose Dahlquist, 19, and Drew Logan Shaw, 18.
Dahlquist and Khan were classmates at Apex High School with Silliman at the time of his death while Shaw was a sophomore at Panther Creek High School. School officials have said Hare withdrew from Panther Creek earlier in 2008. All of the defendants, except Hare, were under 18 at the time of the alleged murder
Sheriff's investigators found Silliman's body on the bathroom floor of an empty mobile home near New Hill in southwestern Wake County on December 3, 2008. According to the medical examiner, the Eagle Scout was drugged and suffocated.
Prosecutors have said Silliman was staying at the mobile home because the group had told him a hit man was after him and he could hide there.
Shaw is cooperating with prosecutors and began his testimony Monday.
Click here to read more about what happened in court Monday
Continuing Tuesday, Shaw detailed what happened the day Silliman died. He said the group drove over to the mobile home near New Hill and Hare told him to wait outside with a baseball bat to keep Silliman from trying to escape.
Shaw said the other three went into the home, and later told him to come inside. When he went inside, Shaw testified that the group told him they had convinced Silliman to commit suicide after Hare hit him in the head with a hammer.
"They convinced him that he doesn't have anything to live for. And he just decided to kill himself," said Shaw.
Shaw testified that Silliman was holding a pill bottle and was drinking red wine. He also said Silliman had a bloody wound on the back of his head, but he did not appear to be upset about what had happened.
Next, Shaw said Silliman began mixing a white powder with the wine he was drinking. Prosecutors say a medication normally used to tranquilize horses was found in Silliman's body in the autopsy. Shaw said Hare was talking to Silliman - putting him down - and encouraging him to take the pills.
Shaw said Silliman appeared depressed and was going along with what Hare was saying. Shaw said he told Hare to shut up, and Hare told him to leave. Shortly afterwards, Shaw said Dahlquist took him home.
Asked by the prosecutor why he didn't encourage Silliman to leave or get him help, Shaw said he was scared.
Several times during his testimony, Shaw broke down and cried on the stand.
He said before he left the home, he shook Silliman's hand. He said Hare told him not to use his cell phone until he was far away. When he got home, Shaw said he told Dahlquist: "I'd give you a hug but I don't want to piss Ryan off and end up like Matt."
Asked why he didn't tell his parents what happened or call for help, Shaw testified he just thought Silliman would be ill and he didn't think the other three were going to hurt him further.
"I thought he was just going to be throwing up," said Shaw.
Under cross examination, Shaw told the jury he has rejected a plea agreement in return for his testimony. He said prosecutors wanted him to plead to second-degree murder, and he said he didn't feel like he participated in a murder.
He also said he and Dahlquist are having a jailhouse romance. They've been sending each other letters, and have even found a way to talk to each other by taking the water out of the toilets in their cells and talking to each other through the pipes.
In one letter, Shaw promised to help Dahlquist with her case in any way he could.
Hare's attorney asked if that included lying about Hare. Shaw said it did not.
In follow-up questions from the prosecution, Shaw said that Hare has made attempts to influence his testimony in jailhouse communications.
Dahlquist testifies
Hare's former girlfriend Allegra Dahlquist took the stand Tuesday afternoon.
She has agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors which allowed her to plead guilty to lesser charges of conspiracy, attempted murder, and second-degree murder for her role in Silliman's death. She is to be sentenced after Hare's trial.
Dahlquist said that in late 2008, she and Silliman began a romantic relationship and that made Hare angry.
"I told him I wanted a break to work out my feelings for other people," Dahlquist testified.
Dahlquist and Hare later resumed their relationship, but she said his anger at Silliman continued.
In a later conversation, Dahlquist said Hare told her he would "sacrifice himself" for Silliman. She also testified Hare told her he had attempted to kill Silliman a couple of weeks before he died, but the attempt didn't work.
Dahlquist said in order to regain Hare's trust, she agreed to help him hurt Silliman. She testified that they came up with a plan to suffocate him with a plastic zip tie and she, Hare and Kahn practiced how to do it in her car.
Later, Dahlquist said Hare put the zip tie around Silliman's neck when the group was all in the car together and Silliman started choking. He took out a knife and tried to cut the zip tie, but Dahlquist took the knife away.
"He said 'For God's sake help me,'" Dahlquist testified.
Dahlquist said Hare later cut the zip tie off Silliman and the group told him they were trying to fake his death because a hit man was after him. She said Silliman believed them and the group told him they needed to get him out of town.
Dahlquist testified that they got Silliman to agree to go hide out in an empty mobile home owned by her parents in the New Hill area of Wake County.
Dahlquist's testimony was expected to continue Tuesday.
Prosecution moves to revoke Kahn plea deal
Aadil Kahn also entered a into a plea agreement with prosecutors. But in court Monday, the prosecution entered a motion to revoke Kahn's plea agreement. In its motion, the prosecution said Kahn is no longer cooperating - citing a "lack of memory on events defendant had previously been able to recall, and inconsistent statements."
A hearing on the prosecution's motion has not yet been held.
Send pictures | Classifieds | Report A Typo |
Send Tip |
Get Alerts
Most Popular | Follow abc11 on Twitter | abc11 on Facebook
