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BadNick · 01-29-2008, 06:52 AM

Sadly, a human relative of this thread was murdered, possibly/likely related to being in a witness protection program:

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Posted on Tue, Jan. 22, 2008 - Philadelphia Inquirer

Killing robs state of its key witness

She had been under federal protection in a homicide case.By John Shiffman and Dwight Ott

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Chante Wright wanted to help her boyfriend, who faced 25 years in federal prison for dealing crack. In a deal to cut his sentence by two-thirds, she put her life on the line, agreeing to identify the triggerman in an unrelated murder case.
Wright's testimony was so crucial and so fraught with danger that she became the first state witness in Philadelphia to enter the federal witness-protection program. U.S. marshals gave her a new identity and moved her to Florida.

"The system worked. Well, it would have worked - if she had followed the rules," said a source close to the case. "She's a nice girl who made a bad decision to come back to the neighborhood. Did it get her killed? Probably."

Wright, 23, was killed in Philadelphia early Saturday, seven hours after she arrived from Florida to visit a gravely ill grandmother, on a trip home that authorities had strongly discouraged and that they now suspect led to her death.

“Remarkable. She was only here a few hours,” said another official involved. “It sounds like an execution.”

Wright was slain roughly six weeks before she was scheduled to testify in Common Pleas Court in the murder trial of Hakim Bey, who is charged with the 2000 killing of Moses Williams.

Wright was expected to be the key witness against Bey, who allegedly is a member of what police described as one of the city’s most violent drug organizations.

Now that Wright is dead, Bey’s lawyer, Joseph C. Santaguida, said he thought prosecutors would be likely to drop state murder charges against Bey.

“I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but I don’t know how they can make a case without her,” he said, adding that his client had nothing to do with the killing.

Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham declined to comment on the fate of the Bey trial or on the Wright slaying. “We’ll have to see what comes of the investigations,” she said.

01-29-2008, 06:52 AM	#365 (permalink)
BadNick Riding the Ocean Spray Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa	Sadly, a human relative of this thread was murdered, possibly/likely related to being in a witness protection program: ************* Posted on Tue, Jan. 22, 2008 - Philadelphia Inquirer Killing robs state of its key witness She had been under federal protection in a homicide case.**By John Shiffman and Dwight Ott INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Chante Wright wanted to help her boyfriend, who faced 25 years in federal prison for dealing crack. In a deal to cut his sentence by two-thirds, she put her life on the line, agreeing to identify the triggerman in an unrelated murder case. Wright's testimony was so crucial and so fraught with danger that she became the first state witness in Philadelphia to enter the federal witness-protection program. U.S. marshals gave her a new identity and moved her to Florida. "The system worked. Well, it would have worked - if she had followed the rules," said a source close to the case. "She's a nice girl who made a bad decision to come back to the neighborhood. Did it get her killed? Probably." Wright, 23, was killed in Philadelphia early Saturday, seven hours after she arrived from Florida to visit a gravely ill grandmother, on a trip home that authorities had strongly discouraged and that they now suspect led to her death. “Remarkable. She was only here a few hours,” said another official involved. “It sounds like an execution.” Wright was slain roughly six weeks before she was scheduled to testify in Common Pleas Court in the murder trial of Hakim Bey, who is charged with the 2000 killing of Moses Williams. Wright was expected to be the key witness against Bey, who allegedly is a member of what police described as one of the city’s most violent drug organizations. Now that Wright is dead, Bey’s lawyer, Joseph C. Santaguida, said he thought prosecutors would be likely to drop state murder charges against Bey. “I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but I don’t know how they can make a case without her,” he said, adding that his client had nothing to do with the killing. Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham declined to comment on the fate of the Bey trial or on the Wright slaying. “We’ll have to see what comes of the investigations,” she said.