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Defense brings witnesses
Doctors, eyewitness testify in rooftop murder trial
BY CHUCK WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
Trying to refute the testimony of the family of a man shot to death on the roof of a Columbus construction site, the defense went to work Thursday using an eyewitness, Columbus police officers and two doctors to build its case.

Ekrem Jakupovic, a Bosnian immigrant, is on trial in Muscogee Superior Court for the murder of Alfredo Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant.

Both men owned their own construction companies. Jakupovic, from Lilburn, Ga., owns a drywall company. Sanchez, from Covington, Ga., owned a welding company.

The two men had a dispute at a Columbus Park Crossing construction site Sept. 11, 2004. Jakupovic, claiming self defense, shot Sanchez to death on the roof of the hhgregg building.

The trial started Monday, and several members of Sanchez's family, including his wife, daughter and two brothers, testified.

Jerry Johnson, 58, a heating and air conditioning contractor from Carrollton, Ga., was among about a dozen witnesses called to testify by defense attorney Frank Martin. Johnson was just getting on the roof as Sanchez was shot. Johnson said he saw Jakupovic "surrounded" by a Mexican work crew.

"He was running, trying to get away from them," Johnson said.

He testified that the Mexicans had boards and were hitting Jakupovic "as hard as you can hit anybody."

Assistant District attorney Stacey Jackson tried to counter Johnson's testimony two ways. At one point, Jackson held up an 8-foot piece of lumber like the one Sanchez had and the 9 mm pistol Jakupovic used to kill Sanchez.

"Which one -- in your opinion -- could do more damage to the human body?" Jackson asked.

The witness said he had work-related relationships with both Jakupovic and Sanchez.

Two Columbus physicians -- Kennon McLendon, The Medical Center 3emergency room doctor who treated Jakupovic, and Michael W. Gorum, a Columbus neurosurgeon, testified that the head and neck injuries suffered by Jakupovic could have been life threatening.

The trial continues at 9:30 a.m. today on the 10th floor of the Government Center.