Posted at: 11/16/2009 8:31 AM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 11/16/2009 7:23 PM
By: Berkeley Brean

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Attorneys deliver opening statements in Frank Garcia trial, testimony begins

News 10NBC was allowed to have cameras in the courtroom for the start of the Frank Garcia murder trial.

Garcia is already serving a life sentence for the murders of Kimberly and Christopher Glatz in their Canandaigua home. He is currently on trial for the murders of Randal Norman and Mary Silliman outside Lakeside Hospital in Brockport.

Before 12 p.m. today, both the defense and the prosecution had delivered their opening statements. After defense attorney Joseph Damelio finished his opening, prosecutor Doug Randall called his first witness – Audra Dillon, the girlfriend of Norman.

Audra Dillon was the first person to testify in the double murder trial of Frank Garcia. He is accused of murdering two people Valentine’s Day. Police say Randal Norman was shot and killed as he tried to come to the rescue of Mary Silliman. Police say Garcia shot them both.

In court today, Dillon identified Frank Garcia as the killer. She told the jury she remembers his piercing eyes. She told them how he shot her boyfriend then Mary Silliman and then started shooting at her.
 
Audra Dillon: "I saw Randal go down. I seen him get hit and then go down.”
Doug Randall: “What did you hear before he went down?”
Dillon: “I heard the gun go off twice”

Dillon said Garcia started shooting at Silliman and as she turned to run, she was shot.
 
Dillon: “After seeing Mary get shot I turned to run away.”
Randall: “Did you see the person who shot them?”
Dillon: “He reloaded his gun and after he reloaded the gun he came towards me.”
Randall: “What happened then?”
Dillon: “He was shooting at me.”
Randall: “Was this the same person who shot Randal Norman and Mary Silliman?
Dillon: “Correct. He was shooting as he was walking towards me. At one point he was in front of my car and I saw the bullet come through the windshield. I drove away with my head under the steering wheel.”

In his opening statement, defense attorney Jospeh Damelio told the jury, "You're going to see bloody gruesome photographs. That's not proof Garcia committed the crimes. The proof is going to show that you might not like Frank Garcia. But that doesn't make him a murderer. You don't have to like Frank Garcia. You may not like what he has to say or his philosophy. You just have to do your job."

Testimony continues Tuesday.

News 10NBC's Berkeley Brean is in court and posting updates on Twitter.

For more Rochester, N.Y. news, go to our website www.whec.com.