FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Several witnesses took the stand Monday in the defense of Randy Tundidor Sr., who is accused of killing a Nova Southeastern University professor.
Last week, during the prosecution's first-degree murder case against Tundidor, the state painted a picture of Tundidor as the mastermind behind a plot to kill Joseph Morrissey, of Plantation.
Tundidor faces 10 charges, including first-degree murder, and faces the death penalty if convicted.
Morrissey was stabbed to death in his Plantation home in April 2010. Prosecutors said Tundidor killed Morrissey because the professor, his landlord, planned to evict his family from their rental home.
Randy Tundidor Jr., who also is charged in the crime, and Shawn Tundidor, both of whom are Randy Tundidor Sr.'s sons, both testified last week against their father.
Several witnesses testified as the defense presented its case Monday. Among them were detectives from the Plantation Police Department, who said they did not find evidence in Randy Tundidor Sr.'s rental home the day he was arrested. Weeks later, they did find evidence there in the attic and in holes in the wall in the closet, they said.
The defense said the evidence was found later because Shawn Tundidor and Randy Tundidor Jr. are working together to frame their father.
Some of Randy Tundidor Jr.'s fellow inmates at the Broward County Jail testified that he admitted to them that Randy Tundidor Sr. was not involved.
"He talked extensively about what happened," said inmate Robert Oulton. "He said his father was not involved."
"He told me he would not let his brother go down for this. He said his father's sick. His father's going to die anyway, and he'd rather his father die in prison than him spend the rest of his life in prison," said inmate Thomas Kennedy.
Paramedics said they treated Randy Tundidor Sr. around the time of Morrissey's killing and said he had chest pains and asthma and needed a cane to walk. The defense contends that his ailments made Randy Tundidor Sr. physically incapable of committing the crime.
It is unclear whether Randy Tundidor Sr. will testify in his own defense.