Trial begins in killing over stolen PlayStation 3

The prosecutor said Malik Anderson put himself on trial for murder, confessing to detectives that he shot his best friend 11 times in the head over $60 owed from the sale of a stolen video-game system.

Anderson's attorney said the evidence will tell a much darker tale: a ninth-grade dropout of limited intelligence who confessed after 30 hours of interrogation without food or sleep, and was framed by three friends.

Which version of the Aug. 19, 2013, slaying of 19-year-old Daquan Crump proves true will be up to the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury that began hearing the evidence Wednesday.

Crump's slaying stunned many, partly because it happened in Bustleton, and partly because Crump had no criminal record and worked at a local Wendy's restaurant. His body was found in a sprawling construction site in the 10000 block of Northeast Avenue. The autopsy showed he was shot once in the back of the head at very close range, and 10 times in the face.

Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore told the jury of seven women and five men in her opening statement that the evidence against Anderson would come from his confession, the testimony of friends with whom he tried to concoct a story that gave them alibis, and the murder weapon, a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol, found hidden in a box of waffles inside his home freezer.

"The strangest thing is that most of the witnesses know both the decedent and the defendant. They were all friends with each other," Pescatore said.

Defense attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr. maintained the group of five was really two groups: Crump and Anderson, and the trio of Ryan Farrell, James Thompson, and Darrell Holmes.

Peruto acknowledged that Crump and Anderson plotted to steal Farrell's PlayStation 3 game system and split the proceeds, but Crump then decided to go it alone. He stole the system and sold it for $120.

Pescatore said Anderson seethed for days after learning what Crump had done.

Peruto, however, argued that it was Farrell and the other two who killed Crump. That came after Farrell learned that Crump had sold the PlayStation 3 to a mutual friend.

Peruto said Farrell and the others planted the murder weapon in Anderson's freezer - they were regulars in the Anderson house - and then named Anderson as the killer when they were brought in for questioning by homicide detectives.

Peruto urged the jury to keep an open mind about what the evidence will show: "That's the reason we have trials."