Jurors see sites in case

The victim pleaded for her life, the prosecutor said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Benjamin Beshara planned and carried out the kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated murder of his neighbor, Marilyn Guthrie, and killed her by driving over her in her own car, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor told a jury.
Martin P. Desmond, assistant prosecutor, delivered his opening statement Thursday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after the six-man, six-woman jury returned from a visit to various sites the prosecution said were connected to the crimes.
Jurors saw the Youngstown house where the prosecution says Beshara's three teenage accomplices discussed the robbery; the Niles apartment complex where Guthrie and Beshara lived; a Mahoning Avenue store where the prosecution says Beshara beat Guthrie and demanded money; the Parkcliff Avenue location where Guthrie was fatally injured; and the Belle Vista Avenue site where Guthrie's car was burned out on the morning of her death.
Beshara's trial continues today.
On July 9, 2005, Beshara, 33, told his three accomplices -- Anthony D. Johnson, 18, and Josiah Smith and Coryon Bertram, both 15 -- that he had set up a robbery of his neighbor, that there would be plenty of "easy money," that he'd lure her out of her Niles apartment by saying he needed a ride to a store to get his ailing father's medication, the prosecutor said. Their job was to knock Guthrie down, Desmond said.
What happened
About 6 a.m. July 10, Beshara lured Guthrie, 61, out of her Youll Street apartment to the parking lot, where she was knocked down and placed in the trunk of her car, Desmond said.
Beshara went back inside, and telephone records will show several telephone calls were made from Guthrie's apartment during this time period, one to a friend of Beshara's, Desmond told the jury.
Beshara emerged from the apartment building and told his accomplices there was no money in Guthrie's apartment, Desmond said.
The four left in the car with Guthrie still in the trunk and stopped at a Mahoning Avenue store, where Beshara opened the trunk. Guthrie pleaded for her life, but Beshara demanded her money, beat her and shut the trunk, Desmond said.
Beshara told his accomplices Guthrie would have to be killed, and they drove to Parkcliff Avenue near Hudson Avenue, where he removed her from the trunk and threw her to the pavement, and drove the car over her twice, Desmond said. Guthrie died of her injuries that morning in St. Elizabeth Health Center.
After running over Guthrie, Beshara told the teenagers not to discuss the case with anyone, that he was well-connected and could avoid arrest and prosecution, and that he knew where they lived before dropping them off, Desmond said.
"They were fearful of this defendant," Desmond said, adding that this is why the teens didn't identify Beshara as a participant in the crimes in their initial statements to police.
What defense said
In his brief opening statement, Beshara's lawyer, Thomas E. Zena, told the jury that the only people who will likely testify that Beshara committed the crime are the three co-defendants, who gave changing statements to police and implicated Beshara only after prompting from police and after being given special consideration by prosecutors.
"They were told what to say, and they answered accordingly," Zena said of the teens.
Zena told the jurors they'd hear no independent scientific evidence involving Beshara and that the testimony wouldn't convince them beyond a reasonable doubt of Beshara's involvement.
Johnson, of Steel Street, pleaded guilty in November to kidnapping, aggravated robbery and the reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter, and the prosecution recommended a 10-year prison sentence for him.
In his plea agreement, Johnson, who awaits sentencing, agreed to testify against Beshara. Johnson was originally charged with aggravated murder.
Smith and Bertram pleaded guilty to kidnapping in county juvenile court and agreed to cooperate with authorities and testify against Beshara. They were sentenced to detention by the Ohio Department of Youth Services for a minimum of one year and a maximum of time remaining until their 21st birthdays.
milliken@vindy.com