A man on trial for the death of a Pensacola News Journal reporter implied his twin brother was responsible for the murder, PNJ.com reported.
William Cormier III, 32, is accused of bludgeoning 30-year-old Sean Dugas to death with a hammer, burying his body in his father's backyard, and selling Dugas' collection of Magic: The Gathering trading cards on August 31, 2012.
During the trial, Cormier III told state prosecutor Bridgette Jensen that his twin brother, Christopher, called most of the shots the day Dugas died.
"I love my brother very much and, no matter what he did or may have done, I would have done anything to keep him from going to prison," Cormier III said after attorneys questioned him about a January letter he wrote to his father from jail. In the note, he said he was considering suicide.
Surveillance footage from Wal-Marts in Pensacola, a Home Depot in Georgia, and U-Haul facilities in both locations showed him purchasing items associated with the crime, including the container Dugas was buried in, a tarp, bags of concrete, Odor-Rid, dust masks, and more than a dozen air fresheners.
He also testified that he bought the items for his brother without asking why.
"I was under the impression we were gonna help Sean move," he said. "In my wildest dreams, I didn't I think a blue plastic container, six air fresheners and a tarp would be used in a crime."
On October 8, 2012, all of the items were found with Dugas' body in the twins' father's home in Winder, Ga. An autopsy report said Dugas died from blunt force trauma due to multiple hammer blows to the head.
According to the report in the Pensacola News Journal, all jurors were visibly upset when shown the graphic images, and one juror openly cried. Dugas' father kept his head down as the photos were shown, and his mother, who was holding a picture of her son, left the court room.
