Six months before she was killed, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Deputy Linda Yancey told her friend she was scared her husband would kill her, a fellow deputy said Wednesday.
Former Deputy Derrick Yancey is on trial this week on charges he killed his wife and day laborer Marcial Cax-Puluc in June 2008.
About six months prior to her death, Linda Yancey told her friend Danita Huff that arguments with her husband had escalated.
“Linda told me on several occasions that she was upset with him and told me that he would shoot her and kill her,” sheriff’s Deputy Danita Huff told a judge Wednesday.
Defense attorneys objected to Huff’s testimony, calling it hearsay. A judge is now deciding whether it can be part of the case.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Yanceys’ son, 20-year-old Karron Yancey, testified against his dad. He told jurors that his parents were always arguing and his dad frequently talked about getting a divorce.
Prosecutors said Derrick Yancey “executed” his wife and Cax-Puluc, lied to police, cut off his ankle monitor and then fled to Belize.
Defense attorneys said Cax-Puluc attempted to steal $2,000 from Linda Yancey and then killed her. Defense attorneys argue that Derrick Yancey killed Cax-Puluc in self-defense.
Yancey has remained silent throughout the trial.
On Wednesday, he stared straight ahead as he listened to a recording of the 911 call he made that afternoon.
Jurors listened as the 911 operator instructed Yancey how to perform CPR.
“He shot my wife. Please hurry,” he cried on the call. “Linda, please wake up.”
During the middle of the call, Yancey stopped performing CPR and went to look for police. The 911 operator testified Wednesday that it is “unusual” for someone to walk away in the middle of giving CPR.
Prosecutors have also questioned why Yancey, who was certified in CPR in 2004 and 2007, needed instructions on how to help his wife.
Defense attorney Ruth McMullin argued that her client was distraught over his wife’s death.
The only physical reaction Yancey showed Wednesday was when his former boss, Sheriff Thomas Brown, testified. Yancey looked down at the table as the sheriff recounted a visit he had made to the defendant two days after his wife’s death.
The sheriff told jurors that he went to express his condolences to Derrick Yancey, and the defendant began talking about the shooting.
According to the sheriff, Yancey stated that Cax-Puluc pulled out a gun, put it to the wife’s head and ordered her to hand over the money. According to the story Derrick Yancey recounted, Cax-Puluc told the wife to “give it up.”
“Derrick said he said ‘Whoa,’ and backed up. That’s when Linda was shot,” the sheriff recalled.
Earlier on Wednesday, Cax-Puluc’s roommate and lifelong friend, Edbin Xujer, testified that the laborer didn’t know any English. The two grew up in Guatemala and came to the U.S. in 2006. Xujer also testified that he and Cax-Puluc both paid a “coyote” $6,000 to smuggle them into the U.S., but Cax-Puluc had not paid back any of the money.
Also on Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Linda W. Hunter denied Yancey’s request for a mistrial.
Yancey objected to a detective talking about his refusal to continue being questioned after he requested a lawyer. The judge denied the mistrial and said she didn’t see any violations of Yancey’s rights.
Jurors also listened Wednesday as investigators testified that Yancey cut his GPS electronic monitoring bracelet and fled to Belize.
Defense attorneys argued that Yancey wasn’t hiding from police and willingly agreed to return to Atlanta.
Sheriff’s Deputy Steven McCullough, who flew to Belize to pick up Yancey, disagreed.
“Yancey wasn’t given the chance to fight extradition,” the investigator told jurors. “He was deported as an undesirable.”
Yancey, 51, faces a minimum of two life sentences. The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday.
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