Private detective Jay J. Armes had arranged Donald Weber`s arrest before he and the suspect traveled to Arizona to find the body of a missing Northwestern University medical student, testimony revealed Wednesday.
Coconino County Sheriff`s Lt. Terry Kenney testified that Armes called his office in Flagstaff, Ariz., and told him that he would be bringing a murder suspect with him to point out where Lynda Singshinsuk, 24, had been buried.
”He said this should be on `Believe It or Not,` ” Kenney said. ”He requested we set up some kind of a bust to make sure he didn`t have to take Mr. Weber back to Thailand.”
The testimony before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michael Toomin came during pretrial hearings in which Weber`s public defender Kevin Smith is seeking to strike incriminating statements Weber made to Armes.
Armes, of El Paso, Texas, testified Tuesday that he called Weber in Thailand and asked him to come to the U.S. to help locate the body. Weber, who had been penniless and homeless, agreed, Armes said.
Singshinsuk disappeared from her dormitory on April 17, 1990, shortly after she broke off her relationship with Weber, her ex-boyfriend. Both are from downstate Robinson, Ill.
Smith contends that Armes bribed or threatened Weber, 31, to coax him from his safe hiding place in northern Thailand. He also has charged that Armes was working as an agent of the state, helping officers with information from his own investigation.
Armes said that he did not involve law officers in his odyssey. He indicated that he did alert FBI agents to the idea that Weber would arrive in the U.S. on Jan. 23 and that Weber would be with him in Flagstaff on Jan. 26. Two Arizona sheriff`s deputies testified Wednesday that they had met with Armes before Weber`s arrival. But although both testified that Armes`s quest triggered the interest of local and federal authorities, he was not part of their investigation or aware of their actions.
Armes, who first met with authorities on Jan. 20, 1991, called again on Jan. 22 to ask officers to arrange the arrest, Kenney said. The day before Weber was arrested, Kenney said, Armes called again to set up a bust.
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