VIRGINIA BEACH
The man accused of plotting to kill a Virginia Beach police detective took the witness stand Thursday and denied planning the scheme.
Edmund A. Kutauskas, 55, told jurors that it was his girlfriend, not him, who wanted to harm Detective Adam Detamore.
"He wasn't my favorite person," Kutauskas said, "but I wouldn't kill him."
Earlier Thursday, Detamore testified that he had investigated the couple for a string of thefts in which they used phony receipts to steal Sam's Club merchandise and sell it on eBay. Each pleaded guilty last month to those charges and is awaiting sentencing.
Denise Kutauskas, the live-in girlfriend who took Kutauskas' name, told police about the murder-for-hire plot and is one of the prosecution's main witnesses.
Edmund Kutauskas and his defense attorney, Allyson Lee, cast Denise Kutauskas on Thursday as a manipulative woman with the motive to have Detamore killed - she could face more prison time for the Sam's Club thefts because of a 2003 conviction for welfare fraud.
Prosecutors Scott Lang and Wendy Alexander relied on testimony from Denise Kutauskas, who told police that Edmund Kutauskas had asked her for money to pay a hit man.
Taped phone calls between the couple were played. D uring one call on Aug. 11, Edmund Kutauskas can be heard identifying Detamore by name and saying, "He's gonna be out of the picture by tomorrow night."
Today, prosecutors will cross-examine him before both sides present closing arguments.
Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com
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