GMA: Tortola Murder Trial Intensifies

April 24, 2001 -- The trial of four men accused of killing a beautiful Connecticut artist on the Caribbean island of Tortola has pitted the testimony of a jailhouse snitch against the defense claim that the woman killed herself.

William Labrador, Evan George, Alexander Benedetto, and Michael Spicer stand accused of killing 34-year-old Lois McMillen, whose body was found on a beach in Tortola last January. The prosecution finished its arguments last week, punctuating its case with testimony from a man who shared a cell with Labrador and said he admitted to the killing.

Meanwhile, defense attorneys argued that McMillen committed suicide. Though her autopsy revealed that McMillen drowned, her parents say it was no accident.

"Lois was murdered,"Russell McMillen, the victim's father, told ABCNEWS' Don Dahler. "There were articles found on one side of the road, evidence of a struggle there. There was blood found on the rocks across from the road. Lois's body was found in the water down beyond the rocks near the shoreline. She didn't just fall in the water."

Suicide Suggestion Surprises Family

The family was shocked at the end of the first week of testimony when a defense attorney suggested that injuries seen on Lois McMillen's body were caused by a suicide attempt. Prosecutors quickly produced a forensic pathologist who said that was "laughable, there was nothing about the case that suggests suicide." The defense offered no evidence to contradict that during its cross-examination.

But so far, observers say the circumstantial evidence presented in court has revealed at best a tenuous connection between the murder and the four friends.

According to a British forensic expert, Spicer's shirt did indeed contain drops of blood that had a partial DNA link to Lois McMillen, but under cross-examination by defense he admitted the blood could also have come from millions of other people.

Labrador's sneakers, found at the vacation home where the men were staying, contained blood as well, but the scientist said on the stand the blood could not have come from McMillen.

But sand found on Spicer's shoes, according to an expert, did match sand from the beach where McMillen's body was found. However, the geologist admitted under cross-examination that his was an inexact science, and the sand could have been in the shoes long before the murder happened.

"The truth is there is no evidence," said Barbara Labrador, mother of accused killer William Labrador. "And there never has been. And the reason why there hasn't been is because my son and the other three were not involved in Miss McMillen's death, period!"

A Concrete Link

In fact, the only testimony directly linking any of the Americans with McMillen's murder was that of 59-year-old Texan, Jeffrey Plante. He shared a cell with Labrador in Tortola and claims that the other man confessed.

"I asked him directly," Plante said on the stand, "Did he have anything to do with killing Lois McMillen, and he answered yes."

"I asked him how?" Plante continued in court, as Labrador looked on, "He said they were driving — and were arguing — and things got out of control, and he dragged her to the water and put his foot on the back of her neck and drowned her."

Plante also said Benedetto and Labrador argued in prison over who was more guilty.

The defense argued that Plante is a "predator, a thief and a liar."

And while on the stand, Plante admitted to numerous convictions for theft and a lengthy prison sentence awaiting him in Texas.

As it turns out, this isn't the first time Plante has claimed that a cellmate confessed to him. Six years ago in Hawaii, Plante testified that the man sharing his jail cell then also admitted to a murder.

But for these four defendants, Plante's was by far the most damaging testimony. Their freedom may very well come down to one question — will the jury believe him, or them? The defense argument continues this week.