Deliberations likely to begin today in murder
Jurors will likely begin deliberations this afternoon to decide the fate of three men on trial for first-degree murder in the execution-style shooting death of a major Canadian drug trafficker outside Square One Shopping Centre.
Jaime Restrepo and Michael Allen, both 34, and of Mississauga, and Zacky Deleon, 31, of Barrie, have pleaded not guilty to killing Mauricio Castro, 31, also of Mississauga. Castro was gunned down July 26, 2005 as he sat in his idling Ford Escape outside Burger King.
Crown prosecutor Steve Sherriff presented mounds of evidence showing the murder of the international drug dealer was a business decision made by members of a large cocaine trafficking network.
Defence lawyers didn't call any witnesses during the four-week trial in Brampton court.
Sherriff called several witnesses, including two men who, jurors heard, helped plan the execution-style killing.
The Crown asserts that the three men on trial and two other GTA cocaine dealers planned and carried out the execution of Castro to move up the drug chain and avoid paying him a $1-million debt.
"The murder was done out of raw greed...get rid of the creditor. It was a shared activity," Sherriff said.
Defence lawyers accused the Crown's key witnesses of lying on the stand and suggested that they masterminded the murder and pinned it on the other men to avoid serving life in prison and to take advantage of good deals offered by police and the Crown Attorney.
lrosella@mississauga.net