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Last updated on Wednesday, August 16, 2017
(BLOOMINGTON) - Testimony continues today in the murder trial of John Griffin.
Public defender Amy Payne says Griffin is on trial for a murder he didn't commit and for killing a man he didn't even know.
Griffin is accused of killing 66-year-old Donald Gentry, who was found beaten to death at his mobile home in the 4500 block of Old State Road 37 South the afternoon of Sept. 12, 2016.
Gentry suffered so many blows to his head and face that an exact number of injuries could not be determined during an autopsy. Police say Gentry was bludgeoned with a landscaping brick and claw hammer.
Police found the blood-stained murder weapons between two privacy fences behind Bloomington's Motel 6 on Bloomington's north side.
During an interview with detectives, Christina Harmon told police she was with 63-year-old John Griffin the night of the murder. According to court documents, Harmon told police Griffin came out of Gentry's residence with blood all over his face carrying a large brick and a bag of narcotic pills, which he threw in her lap while she sat inside Griffin's vehicle.
Harmon told police that Griffin put the brick in the floorboard of his vehicle, then reached behind the driver's seat, grabbed a bottle of "Windex" glass cleaner, and sprayed it on his face to clean the blood off. Harmon told officers Griffin then drove to a Motel 6 where he threw the brick and hammer over a fence.
After her interview, Harmon took the detectives to an area near the Motel 6 where detectives located a brick, which appeared to have blood spatter and hair attached to it. Detectives also recovered the hammer during their search.
Detectives were later able to verify there were similar type bricks located outside of Gentry's residence.
When detectives spoke with Griffin, he denied any involvement in the murder and stated that he did not know who Gentry was or where he had lived.
Detectives, while processing Griffin's vehicle, found a bottle of glass cleaner. Lab results determined that Gentry's blood was on the bottle, as well as the hammer found behind the motel.
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