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Video of Strong buying money orders played at trialAug 15, 2012 (The Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The 10th day of testimony in the first-degree murder trial against Preston Strong included the prosecution playing a video of him purchasing money orders on the evening of Nov. 1, 2007, several hours after Yuma physician Satinder Gill, who was later found murdered, had called a friend to come to his house and pick up a check for $24,000 and cash it for him. While the 10-minute video was being played, prosecutor James Coil would pause it periodically and ask Veronica Ruiz, who worked in the customer service section of the Walmart where the money orders were bought, to describe what she was doing. When the video is paused the first time, Strong can be seen putting a bundle of money, with a bank wrapper around it, on the counter. Moments later Ruiz, whose testimony took most of the afternoon, picks it up and starts to count it. Coil asks her about the manner in which she is counting the money, wanting to know if there are any denomination of bills other than $50s that are counted in pairs. "No only $50s," Ruiz replied. In testimony provided earlier in the trial, Stephanie Baer had testified that when she cashed the check, the money she was given back by the bank teller was mostly in $50 bills. Ruiz testified that Strong had initially tried to buy a money order in the amount of $4,300, but the transaction was cancelled because the purchase, based on the high dollar amount, required a government-issued identification to complete, "He said he didn't have one," Ruiz said. She continued her testimony by saying that in order to not have to show any form of identification, Strong then bought five money orders in smaller amounts, four for $950 and one for $500. At one point Coil asked Ruiz how they were being paid for. "So far each transaction has been paid for in $50 bills," Ruiz said. Earlier in the day Maricella Douglas testified that she witnessed Strong throw rocks at a white car parked at the Yuma Civic Center during a quinceanera in the summer of 2007. Douglas said that she and her now ex-husband were friends with Strong at the time and that they had invited him to attend the celebration with them. She also testified that Strong's ex-girlfriend, Adriana Guzman Ozuna, was her cousin and that another one of her cousins, Alma, was trying to set Ozuna up with Gill. She went on to say that shortly after they had arrived, Gill showed up, and that she had made a joke about how he would need Viagra to be with her cousin, which caused Strong to get up from their table and leave. Douglas said she followed Strong outside because he looked upset and that is when she saw him pick up a handful of rocks and throw them at the windshield of a white car. When questioned about the car she answered that she did not know who owned it. Ozuna, who paid a majority of Strong's living expenses when they were together, had also previously testified that she told police she thought he might have had something to do with the murder because he had given her $9,500 in cash the day Gill's body was found. The 62-year-old Gill was found dead inside his home at 4596 W. La Quinta Loop on Nov. 2, 2007. He had been suffocated and had blunt-force trauma to his head. A large sum of money was missing. During its investigation, YPD detectives confirmed that Preston Strong was in possession of a large sum of money immediately after Gill's death. Detectives were able to track his movements immediately before and after Gill's death, but his whereabouts during the death are unknown at this time Strong has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of kidnapping, one count of armed robbery, one count of burglary, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of attempted arson in the murder of Gill nearly five years ago. James Gilbert can be reached at [email protected] or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert. ___ (c)2012 The Sun (Yuma, Ariz.) Visit The Sun (Yuma, Ariz.) at www.yumasun.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |