`Star Witness' Admits He Didn't See Slaying -- Man Was In Jail At Time Of Crime

King County prosecutors were dealt a major setback this week when a man who claimed he witnessed the February 1996 slaying of Rigel Jones in Pioneer Square admitted he was in jail at the time of the crime.

Richard Prevost's revelation that he was in the Skagit County Jail when Jones was killed prompted King County Superior Court Judge Larry Jordan to tell jurors to strike his testimony.

Jordan, however, denied defense motions yesterday to dismiss the case against two men on trial in connection with Jones' slaying.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office yesterday charged Prevost, 28, with first-degree perjury. He is being held in King County Jail on $25,000 bail.

The prosecution, relying heavily on statements from Prevost, had arrested Darrell Everybodytalksabout, 40, and Phillip Lara Lopez, 24, and charged both men with first-degree murder in the slaying of Jones on Feb. 4, 1996. Jones, 23, was robbed, stabbed and left to die next to his pickup beneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Pioneer Square.

If convicted, both defendants could receive at least 20 years in prison.

Prevost last week testified he saw a fight between Everybodytalksabout and Lopez and an unidentified third man in a parking lot near Alaskan Way and Yesler Way on the night Jones was killed.

But doubts about Prevost's testimony began to surface Monday when Sherri Upham, a friend of Prevost, testified he could not have witnessed the incident because he was in jail at the time.

Upham's testimony prompted Seattle Police investigators to inquire about whether Prevost was in King County Jail at the time of the slaying. Jail officials said that Prevost had not been detained Feb 4, 1996, but that he had been detained in mid-January and upon release was transferred to Skagit County Jail.

A subsequent call to Skagit County Jail confirmed that Prevost had been booked Jan. 17, and released Feb. 8, 1996, four days after Jones had been killed.

On Monday, Prevost admitted he was in jail and had lied about being at the crime scene. But he insisted, this time, that Upham had told him about the slaying.

He said Upham had "walked him through" the crime and had taken him to the scene. He also said Upham told him who actually stabbed Jones. But Upham Monday said he was lying and agreed to take a polygraph, which she passed.

Defense attorney Eric Lindell, who represents Lopez, and Timothy McGarry, the attorney for Everybodytalksabout, had insisted that Prevost, who has six criminal convictions and is a drug addict, concocted his allegations to receive $10,000 in reward money.

The defense yesterday cited Prevost's perjured testimony - and the prosecution's alleged mismanagement of the case - as reasons why Jordan should grant a motion to dismiss the case.

"The court instructed the jury to disregard his (Prevost's) testimony," said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office. "But we have a new witness who is considered very important to the state's prosecution, and we will be relying on this witness for testimony when the trial resumes (today)."

The jury is expected to begin deliberations early next week.