web1_Zika.jpg

Ex-Newport Twp. manager Zika avoids jail, to spend 24 months on house arrest

web1_TTL060617leininger.bdy_.jpg

Happy birthday Juliana Helen Leininger!

<p>SCRANTON &#8212; For 11 minutes Monday, a crowded courtroom looked on in solemn silence as a recording showed what until then had only been public on paper.</p><p>Some of the footage of federal prison guard Eric Williams&#8217; 2013 killing while on duty at U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Wayne County drew tears from onlookers, while other video even seemed to trouble the inmate accused of killing the Nanticoke native in a vicious attack he never appeared to see coming.</p><p>The 203 stabs, 11 kicks, and six stomps to the head, neck and face of Williams, 34, had been detailed in court documents, but were unveiled to the jury deciding 40-year-old Jessie Con-ui&#8217;s fate during the first day of testimony in his capital murder trial.</p><p>Though only through one day of testimony, the trial appears poised for the penalty phase after Con-ui&#8217;s defense acknowledged earlier Monday he committed the &#8220;horrific&#8221; slaying, and did so without excuses or justification.</p><p>&#8220;Jessie is guilty of murder beyond all doubt,&#8221; court-appointed defense attorney David A. Ruhnke told the jury in a brief opening statement. The defense, he added, won&#8217;t call any witnesses during the guilt phase and will instead try to save Con-ui&#8217;s life during the penalty phase.</p><p>Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa said in his opening statement that prosecutors will couple DNA evidence, witness testimony and Con-ui&#8217;s own admissions with the footage of Williams&#8217; death to prove their case.</p><p>The latter piece of evidence came Monday afternoon, as computer screens throughout the courtroom played the recording that showed Con-ui waiting on the second floor of a cell block while Williams ascended a nearby staircase. The unsuspecting guard was met at the top with a kick that sent him down the stairway and briefly to the ground.</p><p>The video showed Williams&#8217; attempts to flee, only to eventually fall to the ground beneath Con-ui.</p><p>Identified later Monday by Williams&#8217; fellow guards as the man in the video, Con-ui can be seen pausing at points before resuming his attack.</p><p>In one chilling image, he propped his foot onto a table a few feet from where Williams&#8217; lay dying and sipped a drink handed to him by an inmate following one barrage of stabs with two homemade shanks.</p><p>More than 100 other inmates in the unit did nothing to intervene, some looking on with their arms folded over their chests as the attack played out, the video showed.</p><p>The graphic footage appeared to trouble Con-ui, who bowed his head and held a closed fist over his eyes during most of the video. Williams&#8217; family left the courtroom before the video played.</p><p>Testimony came largely from guards on duty the night Williams was killed. They responded to frantic radio calls for an officer down and sprinted to the cell block only to find a &#8220;mutilated&#8221; and &#8220;unrecognizable&#8221; body, they testified.</p><p>Jeremy Bennett was the first to find Williams.</p><p>&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t even recognize his own face,&#8221; Bennett said, breaking down in tears. &#8220;My friend. My coworker. My brother. I couldn&#8217;t even recognize him.&#8221;</p><p>Bennett and the other guards described their efforts to lock down the cell block and find Williams&#8217; killer in the hectic aftermath.</p><p>Con-ui appeared &#8220;emotionless&#8221; when they found him in his cell after the attack, they said, and admitted he killed Williams over what the inmate called a &#8220;disrespect issue.&#8221;</p><p>Con-ui, also known as &#8220;Chino,&#8221; was at Canaan serving an 11-year sentence for drug trafficking. He was then set to serve a life sentence for a 2002 conviction for a gang initiation killing in Arizona.</p><p>Testimony will continue Tuesday.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Con-ui-cmyk-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Con-ui </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Con-ui-cmyk-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Con-ui </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_walkofhonor02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Don and Jean Williams are shown at a previous event to honor their son, slain federal prison guard Eric Williams. Jessie Con-ui, the man accused of killing Eric Williams, went on trial Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_walkofhonor02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Don and Jean Williams are shown at a previous event to honor their son, slain federal prison guard Eric Williams. Jessie Con-ui, the man accused of killing Eric Williams, went on trial Monday. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Inmate guilty of murder &#8216;beyond all doubt,&#8217; defense attorney says</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Video of prison guard’s killing shown in Jessie Con-ui capital murder trial