Witness Says Woman Killed Pair Defense Witness Says Girlfriend Pinned Murders On Andrews To Avoid Jail

Jurors began the third week of the Joseph Andrews double-murder trial hearing a defense witness contradict the only person who claims to have seen the February 1994 killings.

Tarry Green testified earlier that she saw drug dealer Andrews, her former boyfriend, pull out a gun and kill Eloise Patrick and Larry Eaves in a car parked near Browne’s Addition.

But 24-year-old Paula Lloyd told the jury Monday that her one-time “inseparable” friend lied about the killings three years ago.

Two or three months later, Lloyd said Green broke down and admitted to her that she murdered the pair - not “Jo Jo” Andrews.

“The last thing Tarry was going to do was go to jail for murder,” Lloyd said Green told her. “So she pinned it on him because he was black, because he was a Crip and because he was the last person to handle the gun,” Lloyd said of Green, who is white.

Neither side asked Lloyd what reason Green might have to shoot Eaves and Patrick, both 37.

Lloyd was one of the final witnesses called before defense attorneys rested their case.

Lawyers may give closing arguments today. Superior Court Judge Richard Schroeder said he will sequester the jury.

With no physical evidence clearly implicating Andrews, jurors will have to sort through contradictory statements by more than a dozen witnesses, most of them drug dealers, street hangers-on or people serving time in jail.

Prosecutors have charged Andrews, 26, with two counts of aggravated murder for the execution-style killings. If convicted, Andrews would face a possible death penalty.

Lloyd, now serving a seven-year prison term for robbery and kidnapping, said she never knew Andrews, but had a long friendship with Green.

They grew up as friends in the Spokane Valley, but each became ensnared in drug use and petty crime. Lloyd sold methamphethamine. Green testified that she helped Andrews sell crack cocaine in the West First area of Spokane.

During cross-examination Monday, Lloyd admitted speaking to prosecutors and defense attorneys at least twice before finally telling them about Green’s alleged confession last month.

“I didn’t (tell everything) because I was still trying, at those times, to protect Tarry,” she said. But “my conscience was bothering me. I didn’t want to continue that lie.”

Lloyd cried when asked by Deputy Prosecutor Dannette Allen if she was “snitching” on Green.

“It’s something I don’t like doing,” Lloyd said, sobbing.

Lloyd denied being angry with Green, who hasn’t called, written or visited her in prison since she began serving her sentence in October 1995.

As has happened throughout the trial, both sides waged a legal battle before Lloyd took the stand. Prosecutors hoped to ask questions about prior crimes Lloyd is serving time for to undermine her credibility.

Defense attorneys Kevin Curtis and Phillip Wetzel argued those questions would prejudice Andrews’ right to a fair trial.

Prosecutors have been offering Green protection as a material witness for the past two years. She denied, earlier in the trial, that she was testifying against Andrews in return for immunity from murder charges.

, DataTimes