Chris Brugada thought he was going to hang out and smoke crystal meth with an acquaintance in November 2010. Before that night was over though, he found himself in the middle of a homicide, Brugada told jurors in the first-degree murder trial of Scott Mediz.
Mediz, 33, is accused of killing Jerry Lewis, 30, who died in November 2010 after being brutally beaten, crammed into a Mazda hatchback and left to suffocate to death in a convenience store parking lot. The car belonged to Brugada.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Lindsay St. John told jurors Tuesday that Lewis took a cab to a home near South Kino Parkway and East 36th Street on Nov. 21, 2010, because his former girlfriend, Sara Golden, told him she'd broken up with Mediz and she wanted him back.
When he arrived, Mediz attacked, St. John said.
At about the same time, Brugada's car broke down at a convenience store, where he ran into Dan Wolfley, an acquaintance. After they spent a few hours working to get the car running, Wolfley asked Brugada if he wanted to follow him to a friend's house.
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When they arrived, they were led to a back bedroom where they discovered Lewis duct-taped and severely beaten on the floor, Brugada said.
Golden was in a panic and said Lewis had to be beaten because he was a child molester, Brugada said. Mediz was trying to calm her down.
After Wolfley and Mediz smoked some meth, Brugada said, he and Wolfley got into Wolfley's car, went to Burger King and then a casino, leaving his car at the house.
When he and Wolfley went back to get his car several hours later, the place was surrounded by police, Brugada said.
Lewis was still alive when Mediz and Golden stuffed him into the backseat of the hatchback, St. John said. He died after Mediz got a flat tire and abandoned the car.
On Thursday, Wolfley testified that Golden had said she wanted Lewis tortured and killed, and he said Mediz asked him to help accomplish that goal.
He said Mediz called later that morning to say he'd hurt Lewis and needed help.
He said originally Mediz said he intended to burn Lewis' body in the desert. But by the time he and Brugada left for the casino, he thought he'd persuaded the couple to leave Lewis at a bus stop and call for help.
Assistant Pima County Public Defender Joel Feinman told jurors during opening statements Mediz was the "instrument, but not the cause" of Lewis' death.
Lewis was murdered by Golden who spent "days, weeks and months" trying to persuade someone to kill Lewis, saying Lewis was a child molester, stalker and abuser, Feinman said. But no one would help, he said.
She finally got the idea to lure Lewis to her house, knowing Mediz and Lewis would fight, Feinman said.
Lewis was armed with a box cutter and a bat when he arrived that morning, Feinman said.
Mediz beat Lewis in self-defense, Feinman said.
They were on their way to the hospital when they got the flat tire. Mediz, an ex-con, fled because he heard sirens and didn't want to go back to prison, Feinman said.
Golden is scheduled to go to trial Nov. 6.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com. On Twitter: @KimSmithStar
