Murder suspect knew that police were on to him

Taped telephone conversations have Partin sparring with authorities over a meeting.

By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer
Published October 5, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - First and foremost, Phillup Alan Partin worried about his daughter.

Did 7-year-old Patrisha have enough clothes? Did she have her medical records? Could he speak to her?

He worried about himself, too.

Why were detectives looking for him? Were they trying to pin the 2002 murder of a 16-year-old runaway on him?

Was he going to die in a hail of bullets?

"If we meet together, I'm not going to walk away and you know that," Partin told a Pasco sheriff's deputy in a call recorded weeks after the killing of Joshan Ashbrook. "Because you are going to ... throw down on me."

It was the first time that jurors in Partin's trial had heard the raspy, curse-filled drawl of the 42-year-old facing the death penalty in Ashbrook's murder.

Days after the teen's body was discovered, Partin left his daughter in Wachulla and fled the state.

He was captured in North Carolina in 2003. But only days after the murder, authorities were already zeroing in on him.

He knew it, too, as evidenced by the calls he made to detectives in the weeks after the murder, calls played back for the jury on Thursday.

Detective Scott Gattuso told Partin they needed to meet and talk - but not on the phone.

Partin refused. He and Gattuso sparred back and forth. Partin tried to deflect suspicion from himself, but never tried to hide his suspicion of the law.

He had already done time for taking another life, and he laid down his "terms" for a meeting:

Partin would be armed. The detective would not.

"You're going to have to drive a while, you're going to have to walk a little ways," he said. "But, I'm gonna be able to watch, you'll be alone. You'll be unarmed."

No way, Gattuso told him.

"I'm a police officer, I carry a firearm," he said. "I'm talking to a ... potential murder suspect, you think I'm going to walk through the woods, meet you unarmed and pull that dance with you? Come on ... ."

In one call, Partin asked the detective what they had on him. Gattuso told him he was the last person to see Ashbrook alive on July 31, 2002. She was found dead Aug. 1.

Day four of the trial also focused on forensic evidence linking the defendant to the victim.

Experts testified that blood found on the walls and carpet of Partin's old bedroom could statistically have come only from the victim.

Statistically, the hair found on Ashbrook's thumb could have only come from the defendant.

The state is expected to rest today.

Jamal Thalji can be reached 727 869-6236 or thalji@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 4, 2007, 21:48:36]