Murder Trial Jury Deliberations to Continue

STAMFORD -- Jurors in the trial of a Greenwich man accused of shooting two gas station attendants in 2009, killing one of them, asked in state Superior Court in Stamford on Tuesday to review evidence and testimony.

During the trial of Alain LeConte, 24, jurors listened to testimony about three armed holdups he is accused of committing over a two-month period. He allegedly shot two convenience store clerks in the head, killing one in Norwalk and severely injuring another in Greenwich. LeConte is also charged with using a gun to rob a Stamford bodega.

He is facing more than 60 years in jail on the charges.

As they did earlier in the trial, jurors Tuesday heard a secretly taped jailhouse conversation involving LeConte, in which he admitted to many details of the crimes.

"I'm full throttle with this (expletive)," LeConte can be heard saying on the tape, referring to the time period immediately before the 2009 robbery of the Mobil on the Run gas station on East Putnam Avenue in Old Greenwich.

LeConte recalled how he rushed away from the Greenwich crime scene with an accomplice, later identified as Teran Nelson, and they sped toward Bridgeport "like it was a movie."

Nelson, the getaway driver in the robbery, took the stand previously in the trial.

Jurors listened Tuesday to a recording of his testimony.

Nelson testified he acted as a lookout outside the gas station while LeConte entered and, soon after, he heard a popping noise.

"When I heard the pop noise, I panicked and started to run," Nelson said.

Nelson has signed a cooperative agreement in the case, exchanging his testimony to reduced exposure to jail time.

Jurors once again saw video surveillance footage from the Greenwich crime and the Oct. 10, 2009, robbery at the West Avenue Shell station in Norwalk, in which a hooded suspect shot and killed gas station attendant Jose Joaquin Morales.

In surveillance footage from both crimes an armed man dressed in black aims a gun at the attendant.

The attendant in the Greenwich video can be seen exiting the store clutching his head after the man leaves.

David Wash, of Bridgeport, faces robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery charges in connection with the Greenwich crime.

Mustafa Jacobs is facing felony murder, robbery and conspiracy charges for his alleged role in Morales' murder.

Mark Phillips, LeConte's attorney, and Senior Assistant State's Attorney James Bernardi, the case prosecutor, both rested their cases last week.

Norwalk Store Robbery Victim Dies, Reward Now Offered for Information

..I wonder if it's the same robber that shot the Greenwich gas station attendant in the head last year, right around the time of this robbery?? He's lucky because at least he had lived..

NORWALK -- Doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital took a Norwalk Shell station clerk off life support Monday who had been shot in the head during a robbery at the West Avenue gas station early Saturday morning.

An autopsy on the man, Jose Joaquin Morales, 33, of 17 Lee St., Stamford, is scheduled for today at the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

"This is so horrendous and so absolutely outrageous that I would hope anyone with information would be so angry they would call us and give us information," Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling said. "The robbery was extremely brutal. Words cannot explain how horrendous this was."

The robbery occurred just before 2:13 a.m. Saturday, when police said two masked men -- at least one armed with a handgun -- walked into the station's large convenience store and demanded money from Morales. The station is about 150 yards from Interstate 95's northbound Exit 15.

A security video shows that Morales complied with the demand and was on the ground when he was shot in the head by one robber, Rilling said.

"It is beyond belief that they would feel it was necessary to do that. Everybody was cooperating," Rilling added.

Pending autopsy results, Morales could become Norwalk's first homicide victim in nearly 15 months.

Morales was treated at the scene by officers and paramedics and then transported to Norwalk Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police said. Because of the extent of his injuries, he was transferred later Saturday to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he was put on life support.

Surveillance videos from the station and surrounding businesses are being reviewed by investigators, Rilling said.

Marvin Morales said his cousin came to the United States from Guatemala about 14 years ago and began working for the Shell station about 7 months ago.

Another cousin, Luis Morales, said that Joaquin came to America for a better future and to help his parents by sending them money.

He said his single cousin was happy most of the time and enjoyed socializing and going to church.

The family hopes to raise about $14,000 to send his body back for burial in Guatemala.

At the request of the State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk, Governor M. Jodi Rell authorized a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of Mr. Morales.

Anyone with information in the case should contact Norwalk Police Department at 203-854-3000.