On trial for murder, he says he lied

Nathan John Brinkley says he thought telling police he killed an armored car courier might mean freedom.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 18, 2002

LARGO -- Nathan John Brinkley said he thought the lies he told would free him, even if they implicated him in the death of an armored-car courier.

It didn't work out that way.

Brinkley took the stand Thursday in his first-degree murder trial for the October 1999 shooting of a Dunbar Armored Car Service courier. He denied he played any role in the death of Donald Brennan.

Brinkley, 25, a former football player at Northeast High School, acknowledged that he told St. Petersburg police detectives that he shot Brennan during a robbery at a Chili's Grill and Bar.

But Brinkley said he was lying, telling police what they wanted to hear. If he confessed, Brinkley said, he figured he might be set free.

"That was the only thing that they wanted to hear," Brinkley testified. "I even asked them, "What do you want to hear? I don't know nothing.' "

So Brinkley told police the day after the shooting that he robbed Brennan, shooting him in the head by accident after stumbling.

Brinkley said he also lied when he told police in an interview after his arrest that he had recently fired a handgun. But Brinkley said he had a different motive for that fib.

He said he wanted police to test his hands for gun powder residue, which he said would show he hadn't fired a gun and thus couldn't have shot Brennan. But Brinkley said he didn't think they would conduct the test unless he lied to them about firing a gun.

Brinkley testified that he was a drug dealer before his arrest, dealing in large amounts of marijuana. He said that explained the thousands of dollars police found on him and at his home.

The person who killed Brennan stole nearly $10,000.

Brinkley, who worked at Chili's for a month as a dishwasher, said he barely noticed the regular pickup of cash by Dunbar employees while he worked there.

The trial, which has lasted two weeks, continues today in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright