Star defense witness admits he's lied during case

Zachary 'D.J.' Pinettte wraps up his testimony at Strafford County Superior Court on Friday in the murder trial of Madbury teen Aaron Wilkinson. (Union Leader photo)

DOVER, N.H. - Defense attorney Mark Sisti peppered star prosecution witness Zachary "D.J." Pinette with accusations that he was nothing more than an inveterate liar trading his lies for a lighter sentence as the Aaron Wilkinson murder trial ended its second week of testimony on Friday.

At one point Sisti looked at Pinette, saying, "Would it be fair to say that you are a liar with regard to the preparation of this particular case?"
"Yes," Pinette admitted.

Pinette, 19, of 58 Rankin St., Springvale, Maine; Michael Tatum, 21, of 236 Young Road, Barrington, N.H., who testified on Wednesday and Thursday, have already pleaded guilty to second degree murder and face 30 years to life sentences.

Wolusky, 19, of 46 Lowell St., Rochester, meanwhile, is facing the possibility of life without parole if he is convicted of first degree murder.

Pinette's and Tatum's plea deals are in in exchange for their testimony against Wolusky,

Most of Sisti's cross-examination of Pinette dealt with discrepancies between the accounts of Pinette and Tatum on what happened the night of the murder in the driveway of Wilkinson's Madbury home around 1:30 a.m. June 21, 2014.

They included the number of times Tatum stabbed Wilkinson:

Tatum said he stabbed him three times; Pinette said Tatum stabbed him five times.

Tatum said he cleaned out Pinette's car trunk to make room for the body while Pinette and Wolusky continued to stab Wilkinson.

Pinette said he cleaned out the trunk while Wolusky and Tatum dragged his body from the murder scene.

Whether or not Wolusky ever stabbed Wilkinson:

Tatum testified that he saw Wolusky stabbing him several times while he was cleaning out Pinette's trunk to make room for the body.

Pinette at first said he never saw Wolusky stab Wilkinson but later said he may have seen him stab him in the chest. (The coroner found no stab wound in the chest.)

Sisti further pounded Pinette on inconsistencies from when police were conducting their initial investigation.

Prosecutors have insisted Wolusky was the mastermind of the robbery and the slaying when it went awry after Wilkinson told his assailants he had no money or drugs.

Sisti has said Wolusky may have been all in on the robbery but had nothing to do with the murder other than knocking Wilkinson to the ground.

Sisti also got Pinette to admit he lied to police when he told them Wolusky held the machete, saying instead on Friday that it was him.

"You were trying to protect yourself from the get go, trying to pin this machete on Tristan, right?" Sisti said, to which Pinette agreed.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case on Monday.

The trial could last another week and a half.