Jewelers Row suspect's mom: He was 'dyeing eggs for Easter'
Mother of Basil Buie tells judge at bail hearing her son was getting ready for Easter on the day the woman was abducted.
The mother of one of the three men accused of kidnapping and torturing a Jewelers Row employee in April testified Monday at a bail hearing that her son was coloring Easter eggs on the day of the violent abduction.
"He was with his baby mom, and they were home making eggs for Easter," testified Lolita Tucker. "That's what they were supposed to do. Dyeing eggs for Easter."
Tucker is the mother of Basil Buie, 23, one of the three men accused of kidnapping a then-53-year-old woman who worked at the National Watch and Diamond Exchange store at 8th and Chestnut streets in Center City on April 4 - the day before Easter Sunday.
Buie, who is short and on the heavy side, "used his significant weight to sit on top of this woman while she was held captive for two hours" in the suspects' van, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanine Linehan argued Monday before U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III.
The victim "lives in fear of the three defendants who abducted her and tortured her," Linehan said in arguing against pretrial release for Buie.
The abduction took place in a parking garage across the street from the jewelry store.
Buie's attorney, Arnold Joseph, argued that there is no evidence other than the prosecutor's words linking Buie to the crime.
Buie's cousin, Salahudin Shaheed, 34, and a third man, Khayree Gay, 31, are also charged with kidnapping, attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Bartle last week denied a motion for Shaheed, the alleged mastermind of the abduction, to be released pending his and Buie's Oct. 6 trial.
Gay has pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with the government. He is expected to testify at his codefendants' trial.
"I don't know what Mr. Gay will say other than what Ms. Linehan says," Joseph told the judge. He said Buie, who had about 10 supporters in court Monday, including his mother, could be released to house arrest with electronic monitoring or a house could be put up for bond to ensure that he will appear in court for his trial.
Linehan, however, argued that she's not the only person who has said Buie participated in this horrific crime. A grand jury of 22 people considered the evidence, and about 18 of them found there was probable cause to return an indictment against Buie, she said.
Bartle did not make a ruling Monday on whether Buie would be released pending trial. He said he would issue his decision soon.