ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The man accused of killing a witness and shooting two others to keep them from testifying faced three of his former friends in court Friday.
Two of them admitted to being involved as lookouts, later learning that Bessman Okafor allegedly shot three people, killing one of them.
The third witness said Okafor tried to get him involved, too.
Defense attorneys tried to convince the jury that all three were lying to protect themselves.
Photos: Bessman Okafor, Alex Zaldivar
One witness said Okafor wanted him to buy supplies for the slaying while Okafor was on home confinement.
The mother of Okafor's children later admitted she was a lookout and testified she lied to protect him, until she was charged in the murder case.
Prosecutors say Okafor coaxed four people into his plan to eliminate home invasion victims who were about to testify against him.
Two of those who testified are in prison for life for helping kill Alex Zaldivar, 19, and try to kill Brienna Campos and her brother, Remington Campos.
Two others admitted they were Okafor's lookouts. Both say they had no idea what Okafor was planning.
Their plea deals were tied to their prosecution testimony Friday.
Defense attorneys accused them of lying on the stand to save themselves, but both maintained they were telling the truth.
"The only reason I'm doing this, number one, is to tell the truth and for justice," Okafor's former girlfriend Sherria Gordon said.
"You have an idea what you're supposed to say in this courtroom, right?" a defense attorney asked Nesley Ciceron, who was a friend of Okafor.
"The truth," Ciceron said.
Channel 9 reported on how Okafor had violated his home confinement curfew more than a dozen times, and how he likely would have been locked up for that at the time of the slaying if the curfew violations had been reported to a judge.
The incident led to a major shakeup at the jail and home confinement was halted.
In court Friday, another friend of Okafor told the jury Okafor asked, hours before Zaldivar was slain, if he would buy a hoodie and gloves for Okafor, saying Okafor was concerned the home invasion victims' testimony would land him back in prison.
"He was nervous. He hoped that they didn't show up," Antoine McLaren said.
"Did he say anything besides, 'I hope they don't show up?'" an attorney asked.
"'I can't let them show up,'" McLaren said.
After McLaren left the stand, the father of Alex Zaldivar thanked him for his testimony.