WITNESS BOLSTERS TAFOYA'S CLAIM OF SELF DEFENSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000606560063-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: November 14, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606560063-1
Witness Bolsters
Tafoya's Claim
Of Self Defense
DENVER POST
14 November 1981
FORT COLLINS -'A gun and a
witness provided defense attorney.
al he needed Friday to start build=
ing a self-defense case for former
Green Beret Eugene:. Tafoya,
accused of trying to kill Libyan dis-'
sident Faisal Zagallai.
The irony of Friday's develop-
ments, which provided strong am-
munition for Gerash and stung pro- ',
secutors, was that they occurred in
the early stages of Larimer County
District Attorney Stuart VanMev'
eren's case.
1 VanMeveren and, his assistant,'
Chief Deputy District. - Attorney
Larry Abrahamson, called both the
witness,. Gregory+ Andre 'Barnes,
and introduced the gun, a 9mm
semiautomatic pistol.
Barnes' witness.. account sub.,
stantiated points! - , of - Tafoya's
claims that he shot Zagallai in self-
defense; althought he also said
Tafoya was not the man he saw
fighting with Zagallai the- night Za-.,
gallai was shot. And the gun, pur
chased by Zagallai six months be-
fore he was shot twice in the head
on the night of Oct. 14, 1980, fit per-
fectly into the defense's version o
what happened at the Libyan's;
apartment.
On Thursday, during opening
statements, Gerash told the nine-
woman, three-man jury that
Tafoya was under the impression
he was working for the CIA when
he visited Zagallai, a claim the CIA
has denied. Gerash also to
jury that during the visit. - in
which Tafoya claims he asked Za-~
gallai to stop se . provocative
messages to the Middle East - Za?
gallai brandished the amm semiau-
tomatic which he had hidden under
the cushions of a sofa.?:
Gerash:. claims Tafoya jammed,
the weapon: back down. into. the
sofa at whiO.point Zagallai.tried
to grab a gun Tafoya had under his
acket. During the resulting brawl,
Tafoya fired the gun in self-de-
fense, according to the defense sto-
ry
.The defense also has stresse'
that while Zagallai was shot twice,
several witnesses believe they
heard three shots. Gerash has
strongly suggested that the myste-
rious "third shot" may have come
from Zagallai's weapon.'
On Thursday, the defense stipu-
lated that Tafoya was at the Zagal-
lai apartment at the time of the
shooting and that Tafoya was car-
rying a .22-caliber revolver. Three
and one-half months after the
shooting, a .22-caliber handgun po-
lice believe was used in the-shoot-
ing was found in Fort Collins' and
traced to Tafoya, who lives. in
Truth or Consequences, N.M.
While it took authorities four
months to recover what they be-
lieve is the weapon used to shoot
Zagallai, Fort Collins police Sgt. i
Robert Mason told the jury Friday
he recovered Zagallai's 9mm semi-
automatic the night of the shoot-
ing.
He said.he discovered it under a
sofa cushion fairly close to the
edge of the cushion.
Mason said the gun had bullets irr
it when he found it. But under
tough questioning by Gerash, the
police officer admitted he hadn't
counted the number of bullets in
the gun's clip and didn't remember
if there was a bullet in the weap--
on's chamber.
- Although the 9mm pistol fits
-nicely into the defense theory,
Gerash was beside himself with
joy following the testimony of
-Barnes, who Gerash claims is-the
only independent %kness to ' the
struggle between Tafoya and. Za-f
gallai. ; .4 .
The fact that. Barnes also,- to
-the jury, which is7l1stening to
case in the court. of Latimer Court
tyDistrict Judge J: Robert Miller;
that Tafoya wasn't the man he saw
not to lessen Gerash's Pleasure.
Gerash said after. Barnes' testi
mony that it probably won the case.
for Tafoya, accused of?'attempted,.
first-degree murder and conspira-
cy to commit first-degree murder.
Barnes, a neighbor of Zagallai,
said he was watching television
when he heard a;woman - he later
identified her as Zagallai's wife -
"screaming, and heard glass break ;
ing.
At that point, he said, he went to.
.his window, which he said looks di
rectly down and into thei Zagallai's
living room-. There, he said, he saw+.
Zagallai struggling. with a man.
The man, Barnes said, had a gun in
one hand.
At one point, said Barnes, the'
man was able to' get free of Zagal-
lai. Instead of shooting the Libyan,.
Barnes said, the man bolted for the
door only to be grabbed by Zagallai
and thrown back into the living
room.
In panic the man looked around.
for a way to escape but couldn't
find one, Barnes said. At that point
Barnes said the man aimed his gun.'-
at Zagallai who was a mere 4.1
feet away - and fired.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/17: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606560063-1