Landry Case To Continue Next Week

ROSEVILLE, Mich. - Several people testified Thursday for more than five hours in an Easpointe courtroom for a hearing in the death of a 21-year-old Mattew Landry, including a man who said he was saw Landry being abducted on Aug. 9.

Landry, of Chesterfield Township, was found shot to death inside an abandoned home on Detroit's eastside a few days later.

Seventeen-year-old Ihab Maslamani and Robert Taylor, 16, are accused in the death.

The hearing Thursday in front of judge Carl Gerds was to determine if Maslamani would stand trial on six charges, including murder during a felony.

Testimony:

At least 14 witnesses were on the list to testify.

First, two Quiznos employees took the stand and said Taylor and Maslamani came to the restaurant on bikes on Aug. 9 and asked for free water.

Afterward, Lawrence Wadda took the stand and said that he was stopped at a light with his wife when he noticed a black man, who looked like he was carrying a gun, in the parking lot of the Quiznos on Gratiot Avenue near 10 Mile Road, and he became suspicious.

Wadda testified that originally he thought the men were preparing to rob Quiznos, so he pulled over into the parking lot and attempted to run into the restaurant to warn the employees. Wadda said the door was locked and then he noticed Taylor looking at him, so he ran back to the car.

Wadda said he got back into his vehicle and drove to a another parking lot to call 911 while he continued to observe the two men.

He said he witnessed Maslamani and Landry approach a green vehicle. Wadda said he saw Maslamani go up to a man in the driver's seat and talk to him.

Wadda identified the man as Landry.

He said Landry put his hands up, but he couldn't hear what was being discussed.

Wadda said Maslamani then put Landry in a head lock and dragged him to the back of the trunk to try to stuff him in the trunk.

Landry's sister, Gina, broke down in court as she heard Wadda's testimony.

"He grabs him and he drags him to the back of the car and I was telling police what he was trying to do; he tried to flip him into the car," Wadda said.

Wadda said Landry was hit in the face before Maslamani and Taylor got into the car with him and took off.

"They hit him in the face now," said Wadda in 911 tapes played in court. "Hurry, hurry!"

While Wadda was on the phone with 911 he followed the green vehicle down 10 Mile Road to its first turn, where he stopped because he said he became fearful for his life.

While on the phone with police, Wadda said he saw police pull over the wrong green vehicle.

The next day, Wadda said he and his wife were watching the news and they saw the same man, Maslamani, in a surveillance image during a bank robbery.

In two other cases, Maslamani is accused of bank robbery and other crimes; he has been bound over for trial on both. Maslamani was an escapee from a Wayne County juvenile facility at the time of his arrest in August.

Wadda stepped down from the witness stand at 12:08 p.m. and a recess was called.

Testimony resumed at about 1:30 p.m. with Landry's mother, Doreen.

Doreen Landry recounted the nerve-wracking days leading up to the gruesome discovery of her son's body.

She said she last saw her son early Sunday morning and she knew he was going to his girlfriend Francesca Bommarito's house in Roseville. Doreen Landry said the last time she spoke with her son was at 1:24 p.m., when her son called and said he was concerned about Bommarito because she was running a fever.

She said she gave him advice and then said, "I love you."

When her son's friend called her Sunday evening and said Matt Landry was missing, she said the first thing she did was check his online bank accounts.

Having worked in the credit card field, Doreen Landry said she immediately noticed three uncharacteristic debit card uses. Three withdrawals of $102 were made within moments of each other at a Sunoco Gas Station on 7 Mile Road.

"I remember saying, 'That's the last place Matthew used his card,'" said Doreen Landry to the defense attorney as she tried to fight back her tears.

Doreen Landry said she and her family waited until the following day to file a missing persons' report because they couldn’t get a hold of one of Matt Landry's friends and were hoping they were together.

The following day, she made a police report and turned over her son’s bank statements to police.

It wasn't until the next day that they leaned Matt Landry’s Green Honda Accord was found in the area of 7 Mile Road.

"Chesterfield (police) came to the door. He didn't even have to say anything. I just knew it," Doreen Landry said.

Throughout the testimony, Doreen Landry clutched a necklace that contains her son's ashes and closed her eyes and whispered to herself several times.

Essa Rahimee took the stand next. His family owns the gas station where Matt Landry's cars were last used.

Rahimee said Ihab Maslamani entered the store at about 2 p.m. and bought a white T-shirt and changed it on the spot, threw the old T-shirt in the garbage and proceeded to withdraw money at the ATM.

Rahimee said he thought it was odd that Maslamani, who he had known as Ihab Gils, changed his shirt on the spot.

Later that night, officers came to the gas station and inquired about ATM transactions.

The following day, Rahimee said he also saw Maslamani's face in bank surveillance pictures during a robbery.

Macomb County Sheriff Deputy Ronald Patrick Murphy processed evidence from Matt Landry's car on Aug. 13. Murphy said he found a map to a bank on Crocker Street -- the same bank Maslamani is accused of robbing. Murphy also said he found a note that read verbatim, "50,000 in bag or im kill everybody."

With three witnesses still left, the judge adjourned the hearing after more than five hours.

Testimony will resume Nov. 19 at 8:30 a.m.

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