Witnesses Testify About Williams Shooting

<br>SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) _ The first paramedic to reach Jayson Williams' estate on the night a limousine driver was shot said the driver's death did not appear to be a suicide. <br><br>A shotgun

Friday, February 13th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) _ The first paramedic to reach Jayson Williams' estate on the night a limousine driver was shot said the driver's death did not appear to be a suicide.

A shotgun was five to six feet away from the body of Costas ``Gus'' Christofi and weapons in suicides usually are closer to the body, paramedic Matthew D. Wilson testified on Wednesday.

Wilson also said the former NBA star was wearing a T-shirt and sweat pants, while his guests looked like they were about to go out or had been out. Prosecutors have alleged that after the shooting, Williams removed his clothing, jumped into a pool downstairs and put on new clothes.

Wilson's statements came on the first day of testimony in the trial of Williams, 35, a retired New Jersey Nets center. Williams faces eight charges, including aggravated manslaughter and witness tampering, that could carry up to 55 years in prison.

Prosecutors maintain that while Williams did not intend to kill Christofi, 55, he acted with reckless indifference when he took a 12-gauge shotgun from a cabinet in a bedroom and flipped it open and closed in one motion. The gun fired and hit Christofi, who was about 3 feet away.

Prosecutors claim Williams attempted to make the death look like suicide, and urged guests at his mansion to lie to investigators.

The defense maintains that the shooting was an accident, and that Williams had not realized that Christofi had entered the room and was standing in front of him.

Also Wednesday, Trooper Thomas Muehleisen said Williams led him to Christofi's body, lying on his side on a bedroom floor at Williams' mansion. Muehleisen said the victim had a sizable hole in his chest and a bloody white towel on his left side. The trooper said a shotgun was lying on the floor a few feet away.

Under questioning from defense attorney Michael T. Kelly, Muehleisen said he knew right away that Christofi could not have inflicted the wound himself with the long-barreled gun.

``It's obvious it wasn't a contact wound,'' Muehleisen said.

Muehleisen said that Williams did not appear drunk the night Christofi died. However, his partner that night, Trooper Melvin Sanders, testified that he smelled alcohol on Williams' breath and his eyes were watery.

Williams watched all three witnesses intently, leaning forward with his elbows on the defense table.