Days after the third anniversary of the still mystifying Fire Station murder of City Hall consultant Paul Bilodeau, the chief suspect’s attorney edged closer to detonating a bombshell he has been pursuing for a year:
That his client is innocent, that a close and deeply troubled relative of his client allegedly did the deed.
The attorney is not to the point of naming names, just strewing neon clues.
In a whiz-bang fast hearing this morning at the Airport Court, public defender Robert Conley blandly asked Judge Stephanie Sautner for a month-long continuance while awaiting DNA evidence.
The DNA tracing is believed to belong to Davonte Hatcher, half-brother of lengthily incarcerated Myron DeShun Grant, charged with first degree murder and facing perhaps 50 years in prison if convicted of killing Mr. Bilodeau the night of Jan. 2, 2009.
Since last winter, Mr. Conley has been hinting that the wrong brother was fingered by Culver City cops. He may be making progress, but he is not ready to actually level an accusation.
After Judge Sautner set the 27-year-old Mr. Grant’s bail at $4 million following a slimming of charges, Mr. Conley enlarged on his courtroom remarks.
“The reason for the delay is this,” he said. “There is DNA discovery that is outstanding. Some other people, at least one particular person, is being tested against the DNA found in the trailer on the construction site. Perhaps a person of interest is being tested.
“Our client, though, had no DNA in the trailer. That is clear. No DNA is returning to Myron Grant in the trailer, not anything, whether on the victim’s presence or anywhere else.
“For some reason,” the attorney said, “the DNA of the person of interest never has been compared” to the DNA at the crime scene.
Since he was not inclined to identify the person of interest, Mr. Conley was asked if he was related to Mr. Grant. He smiled to indicate an affirmative answer.
Regarding Mr. Hatcher’s whereabouts, he last was known to be jail-bound but is believed presently to be free. “He has been in and out,” Mr. Conley said.
As long as a year ago, Mr. Conley was aiming his arrows in the direction of Mr. Hatcher, who never has been accused of any complicity in the case.
The Cellphone Tipoff
The defense attorney said Mr. Hatcher was actually the person who pawned Mr. Bilodeau’s cell phone on Jan. 23, 2009, three weeks after the 45-year-old working-late bachelor was shot to death.
Said Mr. Conley: “Jan. 23 was two days before the records indicate Mr. Hatcher took a Sim card from a pre-existing cellphone he owned and put the card in the victim’s cellphone. They matched the pre-existing phone to a cellphone of Davonte Hatcher.
“Mr. Hatcher also had a .357 Magnum portrayed on his personal cellphone at a later date — in April 2009 — which would have been the make that was used on the victim,” Mr. Conley said last year.
“I don’t want to mis-speak and say that I have solid evidence that the half-brother, Davonte Hatcher, had anything to do with this.
“But I will say: The implicating evidence would be that (Mr. Hatcher) possessed the victim’s cellphone and pawned the victim’s cellphone. Pawning the cellphone was the key to the whole investigation.”
Mr. Conley said this morning that “obviously we want the DNA testing matter cleared up before we go forward. That might clear up a lot of things if there is a match.”
Meanwhile, the prosecution has not made a plea offer, and Mr. Conley assured there would be no movement on either side until the Hatcher DNA results are in.
