Witness in murder trial disappears (possible kidnapping/murder of a witness)

WTHR-13 ^ | 7/08/08 | Emily Longnecker

[DemforBush]

Indianapolis - A witness in a murder trial is missing, leading to an extensive hunt to find him...

[DemforBush]

I'm kind of surprised they didn't put the witness into protective custody.

[Dianna]

According to the Star reporter who was in the courtroom Monday, prosecutors told the judge Brasher was last seen waiting in a witness room around 9 am. A victim's advocate testified when she went to check on him mid-morning, Brasher was gone. A Metro Police detective testified 50 officers were searching for Brasher.

It seems he was at the Court House. The mother mentioned a caller saying that he shouldn't have gone outside for a cigarette.

Awful bold for thugs to grab a guy right there.

[rawhide]

According to a police report, 31-year-old Ocie Brasher was set to testify in a murder trial Tuesday morning, but he never took the stand. His mother went to police after she says she got three phone calls from someone threatening to harm her only son. She said she last heard from her son around 8:30 am Tuesday, but didn't know he was supposed to testify.

"He said he'd be over, that's all he said," she said. A half-hour later, Brasher's mom got the phone calls. Each one was worse than the one before.

"The first call came, they said, 'I got your son'," she recalled. "The second call came, they said, 'I got him out of the room. He shouldn't have come out and smoked a cigarette.' The third call came, they said, 'You better get your black dress ready,' they said, 'Didn't you hear your son screaming in the background?'."

Brasher's mom said at least one of the calls came from her son's cell phone.

[DemforBush]

You’re right - I missed the part about the courthouse.

And you’re (again) right - that’s really bold.

[Eroteme]

This reads like a witness who had second thoughts about testifying and had a bright idea to make the police think he didn’t split on his own. Probably thinks he’s a genius.

[panthermom]

I say waterboard the defendant until he gives up who took the witness.

[caver]

Indianapolis is getting more dangerous by the day. They have had 9 murders in 8 days. Trying to catch up with Gary, Indiana.

[beaversmom]

Wouldn’t they have cameras of the outside area? Seems like they would be able to see if he left by himself or with someone.

[wtc911]

Don’t discount cold feet. He’s probably dead but he could have changed his mind about testifying against a former cellmate and saw a way out.

[Carley]

Cold feet and a wish to stay alive.

[Mr. Lucky]

Anyone with the means has already moved to Martinsville.

[caver]

I assume that you are joking. There aren’t but a couple of blacks in Martintucky.