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Brother testifies how Joseph Smith admitted to murder

SARASOTA - Joseph Smith, jailed for a probation violation, was also now the prime suspect in the disappearance of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia four days earlier. His brother and mother visited him in the Sarasota County Jail.

On a witness stand Wednesday, John Smith, struggling with words, often mumbling and occasionally closing his eyes, testified about the Feb. 5, 2004, meeting.

As his brother and mother questioned him, Joseph Smith told them what his brother was already certain of: He was the man in the carwash security camera video. Being aired repeatedly on television newscasts, it showed a man approaching Carlie, grabbing her by the arm and leading her away.

Joseph Smith, weeping, told them he had sexually assaulted the girl and may have killed her, John Smith told jurors. Joseph Smith told them where to look for her.

Their mother, Patricia Davis, left the interview room, crying. The brothers also cried and "were hugging each other close," John Smith testified.

Under defense cross-examination, John Smith said his brother told him he was under the influence of cocaine the night of Carlie's disappearance - so much so that he was foggy as to whether he had left her alive or dead.

After leaving the jail, John Smith testified, he and his mother drove to the church property where his brother told him they could find Carlie, looking for landmarks such as "a concrete structure and tree lines."

They didn't find a body, and they didn't tell authorities what Joseph Smith had said until later that night. "I was thinking, maybe, the child was still alive."

Joseph Smith called him on a cell phone as he was leading investigators to the location. It was then, John Smith testified, that his brother told him he had strangled Carlie.

Wednesday was the third day of testimony in the trial of Joseph Smith, 39, charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and capital sexual battery. Michael Davino, a Sarasota County corrections deputy, testified that he overhead the phone calls on Joseph Smith's end.

During one call, Davino testified, Joseph Smith said, "She's between two trees, not too far back, maybe around the tree line." Under defense questioning, John Smith acknowledged that at the time of Carlie's disappearance he hadn't talked to his brother for a while because of a falling out. He also conceded he had asked investigators about a reward.

He said his brother asked him to collect it and set up a trust fund for Joseph Smith's three daughters.

The Bradenton Herald contributed to this report.

[Last modified November 10, 2005, 01:20:16]