Conflicting testimonies in day 3 of Crockett Co. murder trial

CROCKETT COUNTY, Tenn. — Jurors heard contradicting testimonies Wednesday morning in day three of the murder trial in Crockett County in which a man is charged with fatally shooting an elderly woman in 2011. One witness says it was a robbery gone wrong while others say Daniel Parker never said he was involved.

The prosecution’s final witnesses recalled statements they say Parker made at a bonfire in 2011. On the stand, Myranda Austin said everyone at that bonfire was high on marijuana or meth.

“Which part of it stood out to you,” a prosecutor asked. “The part where he said he said he shot the old lady,” Austin, the state’s witness, said.

“Isn’t true that you said you were so [expletive] high that you could have misunderstood and said you did not believe him either?” Parker’s defense attorney David Taylor asked.

“Yes sir, probably did,” Austin responded.

A woman Parker dated during the time says she was told Parker believed investigators were trying to pin a murder on him.

“Remember Daniel telling me that the gun was in his hand, but he didn’t kill anybody,” the state’s witness Sandy Henry said.

After two days of witness testimony, the state rests its case against Parker. The defense team took over, with witnesses telling a different version of this story.

Stephen Baker, the witness who was unable to testify during Parker’s first trial which ended in a mistrial, says no one was high at the bonfire and Parker never made those statements.

“Did he ever come over and talk to you or Crystal about being involved with a robbery or shooting or some killing or anything?” Taylor asked.

“No,” Baker said.

A Crockett County inmate says Dustin Cathey, Parker’s co-defendant, confessed he pulled the trigger.

“As he approached the shed, a light came on in back of the trailer,” defense witness John Anderson said. “And he looked and seen who it was, and he shot the gun ’cause he was afraid.”

Both the defense and prosecution are expected to make their closing arguments Thursday before the jury will be asked to deliberate the case.