For those just reading about this story we have been following this case for a few years..For one the gun that killed Woodard was the same gun that killed Lefrac along with two other men who were coming home from a party. The man who killed them was said to be a hitman
Mr. McKenzie, 39, is accused of orchestrating Mr. Woodard’s murder to avoid paying $161,000 he owed for five kilograms of cocaine that had already been delivered. Prosecutors say they will prove that Mr. McKenzie drove to the murder scene with an unidentified gunman in a rented Lincoln sedan and parked it in front of a school on West 58th Street, near a piano store where he was to meet Mr. Woodard.
He is accused of waiting in the car while the gunman stalked Mr. Woodard from behind on a busy sidewalk and put a bullet into the back of his head. Mr. Woodard was 31. The shooting was captured on surveillance video, but investigators have not been able to identify the gunman.
Mr. McKenzie has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer, David Touger, has said his client did not drive the Lincoln car that day, even though he and a female friend had rented it a month earlier.
Mr. Pender, however, testified he was in touch with Mr. McKenzie by telephone from California in the minutes before the shooting. Mr. Pender said he had even taken his history class at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood out for a “walking lecture” so he could continue to make calls and set up the meeting.
With his middle schoolers in tow, Mr. Pender said, he relayed to Mr. Woodard a message from Mr. McKenzie: Mr. McKenzie wanted to meet at a piano showroom on West 58th Street, rather than at Mr. Woodard’s hotel, Six Columbus, a block away on 58th.
“McKenzie said he couldn’t drive over to Brandon’s hotel because there was a lot of traffic,” Mr. Pender said. “So he asked me to tell Brandon to meet him at 58th Street at a piano store.”
Mr. Pender said he then continued his day, teaching two physical education classes. He tried to reach Mr. Woodard and got no answer. He called Mr. McKenzie back and was told the meeting had gone off without a hitch.
Then, just before he was to coach a middle school basketball game, Mr. Pender said he heard the news through a friend that Mr. Woodard had been shot dead. Next he received a text message from Mr. McKenzie, urging him to drop everything and head to New York immediately, no matter the cost. He did not reply.
“When I heard Brandon was dead, I immediately was afraid because I knew McKenzie had something to do with it,” Mr. Pender testified as his former friend glowered at the defense table. “I didn’t want to talk to him anymore. I just wanted to distance myself as much as possible because things really did change that day.”
Five other men are also on trial on drug and conspiracy charges, accused of playing parts in a bicoastal drug smuggling ring. Only Mr. McKenzie is charged with murder.
Mr. Pender grew up in South Jamaica, Queens, and was recruited to play basketball at Cornell University, where he graduated with a degree in architecture. Afterward, he went into show business, maintaining a friendship with Mr. McKenzie, his high school friend, and forming a music production company with him.
Mr. Pender starred in the 2004 Queen Latifah comedy “The Cookout” and moved to Los Angeles but struggled as an actor. He said he met Mr. Woodard, the scion of a successful family, at a party in 2012 and soon became close to him. The two went out to nightclubs three or four times a month, sitting in V.I.P. sections where Mr. Woodard spent lavishly on alcohol.
Then, Mr. Pender said, Mr. Woodard asked him at a party if he knew anyone in New York who could sell large quantities of cocaine on consignment. Mr. Pender said he did, and he contacted Mr. McKenzie.
“He was excited about it and wanted to make sure it happened,” Mr. Pender testified.
Mr. Pender said he arranged shipments of about 10 kilograms of cocaine between the two men and received a commission from Mr. McKenzie each time.
Using prepaid phones, he would give Mr. Woodard addresses in Queens to which to send the cocaine. Mr. Woodard would then travel to New York in person to collect the payments about a week later. But Mr. Pender said Mr. McKenzie was sometimes slow to pay and asked for more time to move the drugs out to the market.
Mr. Pender will be cross-examined on Thursday.
Mr school teacher some how didn’t mind setting up a drug deal or two for free? I’m not convinced of his innocence either.
Money ooooooooooo
It clearly states he received commission from each drug transaction. He will be charged for conspiracy but given less time than others because he is cooperating.
Whoa all this time Im ignorning the posts dem. Had no idea this was about the Lefrac murder. About four post you mek Met? Mek mi go search. Poor Shawna. She still visits the grave site.
This case really doesn’t have anything to do with Lefrac, except that the gun using in the Lefrac murder and Brandon Woodard murder might be the same.
I thought that in the Lefrac murders, an AK-47 assault rifle was used?
Which hitman would use the same gun tied to a triple murder in another murder? Makes no sense, even a street thug would have gotten rid of the triple murder weapon.