Firefighters heard what sounded like moans coming from inside the smoke.
On Monday — 970 days after those firefighters pulled five bloodied and burned bodies out of a Denver bar — details about one of the most gruesome crimes in the city’s history began to unfold in court. But as prosecutors and defense attorneys presented their opening statements, two different stories took shape about what happened inside Fero’s Bar & Grill on Oct. 17, 2012.
Prosecutors described Dexter Lewis, now 25, as a loose cannon who became so enraged during a botched robbery that he bent the blade of a knife as he jammed it into a jukebox and then into each of the victims lying on the floor at gunpoint.
“He had to kill them. They saw his face. They saw his rage,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Morales said. “Their fates were sealed.”
Defense attorneys, however, argued that Lewis was an unsuspecting scapegoat who had no hand in planning the robbery that went horribly wrong. Lewis, who has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder, was one of four men to walk into the bar that night, but he is the only man facing a possible death sentence for his role in the attack.
The details of what happened depend on which of those four men is telling the story. Even brothers Joseph and Lynell Hill, who went everywhere together, provided different accounts of how people inside the bar were ordered onto the floor, said defense attorney Christopher Baumann.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys focused a great deal of their statements on the only man not arrested or charged in the case — Demarea Harris. Harris was working as a confidential informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at the time of the attack.
Morales told the jury that Harris did not harm any of the victims and ran away from the bar after he saw the killings. Harris watched 21-year-old Daria M. Pohl dance before everyone in the bar was ordered onto the ground. She looked at Lewis, thinking it was a joke, Morales said.
First Lewis taunted Pohl. Then he started stabbing her in the chest and side.
“Over and over and over and over,” Morales said.
Lewis then moved to Tereasa Beesley, 45, who was lying on the floor, and started stabbing her in the back and chest.
“Over and over and over and over,” Morales said.
Kellene Fallon, 44, waited on the floor at gunpoint.
“Some of them face up, some of them face down waiting for their time, for their fate to be sealed by that man,” Morales said, pointing at Lewis, who stared down at an open legal pad.
Lewis stared at a photograph tucked in the crease of the yellow pad as Morales described how 29-year-old Ross Richter was killed. Young Fero’s family dabbed away tears as Morales described how the 53-year-old bar owner had to wait for Lewis to make his way to her.
Lewis, along with the Hill brothers — who accepted plea agreements, were sentenced to prison and are expected to testify during trial — eventually bought a gallon of gasoline and set the bar on fire with the victims inside. Hours later, as investigators struggled to find any leads in the case, a guilt-ridden Harris called his contact at the ATF, Morales said.
“You will have problems with Demarea Harris,” Morales said. “This case is not built solely on him, but he’s the reason we’re here.”
Baumann told the jury Lewis was an easy target for his co-defendants, Harris and law enforcement. Investigators in the case failed to ask Harris — and other witnesses — about inconsistencies. Harris planned the robbery with the Hill brothers and originally told investigators that Joseph Hill started the attack when he stabbed Ross Richter.
“He (Harris) wasn’t cooperating with law enforcement. He was manipulating law enforcement,” Baumann said. ” But they don’t see that.”
Harris was recruited to work for the ATF after he was arrested in August 2012. He purchased drugs for the agency and was well liked for his ability to be deceitful but appear truthful, Baumann said.
Charges were never filed against Harris in the case and he was allowed to “go free” to California, Baumann said.
The jury of 11 women and six men will return on Tuesday. The trial could last about three weeks.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794, jsteffen@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jsteffendp
