Port Allen man standing trial in murder of Harvey handyman

When Carolyn Bates returned to her home in Harvey's Woodmere subdivision, on a rainy Friday afternoonmore than four years ago, she found her front door ajar. Fearful, she remained outside and called a friend.

"We looked through the glass door, and we saw specks of blood on the tile floor," Bates told a Jefferson Parish jury Tuesday. Her friend called 911.

In a rear room of the three-bedroom house at 2217 Eastmere Drive, sheriff's deputies found the body of her husband, Donald Bates. The 53-year-old handyman had been beaten in the head with a baseball bat and shot four times. His work van, missing, was found burned the next day in Marrero.

The third of three suspects charged in Bates' death on Jan. 29, 2010, death, Terrol Cole, 33, of Port Allen, is standing trial this week on a charge of second-degree murder. If convicted as charged, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

Cole is accused of forcing his way into the home with Darnell Turner, planning to get $12,000 in cash.The trial, unfolding in 24th Judicial District Judge Michael Mentz's court, is expected to last several days.

Although he was arrested with Turner in Arkansas a week after the homicide, Cole denies involvement in the crime. "That was a bad choice," his attorney, Robert Hjoresberg, told the jury. "It doesn't mean he's guilty of murder."

Turner, 31, of Harvey, was convicted last year of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.The third person arrested in the Bates murder, Rhonda Skinner, 42, who lived in the Westwego area, cut a deal with prosecutors in 2012, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery and obstruction of justice agreed to testify against Cole and Turner.

Skinner, who was acquainted with Donald Bates, admitted during Turner's trial that she alerted Cole and Turner to the $12,000 inside the home and said she was supposed to get a $2,000 cut. Authorities say she set up the robbery.

Shepleaded guilty more than two years ago, but her sentencing has been delayed until after Cole's trial. She's expected to testify this week. She faces as long as 30 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Clif Milner, prosecuting with Michael Morales, told the jury Tuesday that two women drove Turner and Cole to the Bates home. Later that day, Cole told one of those women that they killed Bates.

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Port Allen man standing trial in murder of Harvey handyman