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Craigslist murder trial drawing to a close

The Philadelphia murder trial of Thomas Coffee - accused of using a Craigslist ad to lure a South Jersey man into an armed robbery - could go to the jury Monday after the defense completed its case and prosecutors presented rebuttal testimony Friday.

Thomas Coffee
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The Philadelphia murder trial of Thomas Coffee - accused of using a Craigslist ad to lure a South Jersey man into an armed robbery - could go to the jury Monday after the defense completed its case and prosecutors presented rebuttal testimony Friday.

Defense attorney Evan T.L. Hughes' witnesses included Coffee's sister, Shanise Palmer, who said Coffee was at home in Willow Grove around 11 p.m. on June 21, 2013 - the time when Daniel Cook, 27, of Williamstown, Gloucester County, was shot to death in West Oak Lane. The victim had gone to buy an all-terrain vehicle from Coffee.

Assistant District Attorney Guy D'Andrea challenged Palmer's estimate of when she and her brother were together at the home that night, arguing that it was possible for Coffee to have shot Cook and then driven home.

On Thursday, Coffee, 25, testified in his defense, denying involvement in any of four armed robberies in which he is on trial, and blaming Cook's slaying on the owner of the Yamaha Banshee ATV he was brokering.

Coffee testified that he and an off-road biking buddy he knew only as "Stead" were supposed to meet Cook at 9 that night in front of Coffee's former home on Hollis Street near Walnut Lane.

Coffee said Cook was late and he left after an hour, letting Stead complete the transaction. Coffee also said that Stead later admitted shooting Cook.

Coffee, however, could not explain why a .40-caliber cartridge that matched the rounds fired from the gun that killed Cook - stolen in another Craigslist robbery on June 8, 2013, in which Coffee is charged - was found hidden in the ceiling of his bedroom.

Nor could he explain why a cellphone hidden in his bedroom belonged to an Oxford Circle teenager who identified Coffee as the gunman who robbed him on June 17, 2013.

D'Andrea began his rebuttal case by presenting the jury with court records showing Coffee's three prior convictions: a 2010 armed robbery, a 2009 count of giving police a false identification, and a 2007 juvenile case for receiving stolen property.

Prosecutors are not permitted to use evidence of a person's past crimes to challenge credibility unless the person testifies in his or her defense.

On Monday, D'Andrea said, he will present his final witness, a police expert in cellphone analysis who will testify that signals between Coffee's cellphone and local cellphone towers show that Coffee was present on Hollis Street when Cook was shot to death.

In addition to Cook's slaying, Coffee is on trial for three other armed robberies in June 2013, two of which also used the Craigslist ad gimmick to set up the victims.

Judge Glenn B. Bronson told the jury of seven women and five men that if testimony ends early enough on Monday, they could hear closing arguments and his legal instructions and begin deliberating by the day's end.