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DURHAM Witness accounts and a statement from a co-defendant's girlfriend led to a bail reduction for a man accused of killing a Duke University graduate student.
Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson reduced bail for Stephen Lavance Oates, one of two teens charged with killing Abhijit Mahato in January 2008, from $13.1million to $1.5million during a court hearing Tuesday. Oates, 19, still faces charges of murder and a separate robbery.
Laurence Lovette, who is also accused of killing UNC Chapel Hill student Eve Carson, is Oates' co-defendant.
The statement of Lovette's girlfriend said Oates had nothing to do with Mahato's killing.
Other witnesses say Lovette described Mahato's killing in detail, from forcing him to withdraw money at an ATM to killing him inside his apartment, according to Oates' attorney, Mark Edwards. Lovette also confessed to shooting two people during separate armed robberies after the killing.
Mahato, 29, was found dead in his bedroom Jan. 18, 2008, by friends who were concerned that he hadn't responded to their phone calls or text messages. An engineering student from India, Mahato was shot between the eyes by a gun wrapped in a pillow.
The weapon was never found because Lovette was robbed after the killing, Edwards said.
None of Mahato's property was found on Oates when he was arrested after a two-county chase, Edwards said. Mahato's iPod and wallet, among other items, were found on Lovette when he was arrested.
The bullet found in Mahato's head was linked to a gun used in multiple armed robberies, Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline said.
Edwards said, however, that a bullet fired in the robberies was from the same caliber gun, a 9mm Ruger, but not the weapon used to kill Mahato.
Two juveniles, who were in the vehicle with Oates when he was arrested, told police that Oates fired the gun used in the two robberies after Mahato's killing, Cline said. Oates has been charged in at least 15 armed robberies.
Cline pointed out that the statement by Lovette's girlfriend was dated Feb. 24.
“Judge, it is a statement by a person after that fact, almost a year after the fact, who is romantically involved with the defendant charged with the Eve Carson murder,” she said.
