NEPTUNE BURNED HIS BLOODY BOOTS - Flinn Murder Trial Continues

(03/08/2007)
Daniel Neptune says he was with Roger Flinn in a home shared by Russell Eastham and Sylvia Fittro, when the couple was shot to death in Wirt County in 2005.

Flinn's attorney tried to point to Neptune as the real killer during the re-trial yesterday.

Neptune revealed he disposed of several items after the shootings, saying he burned the boots he was wearing.

"Did you ever tell the police in any statement you gave," asked defense attorney Keith White, "that you burned your boots because there was blood on them?" He responded with a "no."

Neptune also threw the murder weapon he says Flinn used into the woods, but then helped authorities find it.

Members of Flinn's family contradicted Neptune's denials that he had made prior threats against Eastham.

But Eastham family members say Flinn himself made threats of his own against Russell Eastham, including one which followed a physical confrontation between Flinn and Eastham weeks before the shooting.

"First, my brother told Roger he was going to prosecute him for assaulting him," Kayla Eastham testified. "Roger said if he was going to jail, it would be for a good reason."

"(Roger) asked me if he could shoot my brother. I told him that was not an appropriate question to ask in front of my child," she said.

The defense began presenting witnesses late Wednesday afternoon. The jury could begin deliberations by Thursday afternoon.