Aug 22, 2008 12:42 pm US/Eastern
No Polygraph Evidence In "Joe Cool" Murder Trial
Guillermo Zarabozo Will Face Trial September 22nd
MIAMI (CBS News) ―
Lie detector tests will not be allowed in the trial of a man accused of killing the captain and crew of a Miami charter boat.
U.S. District Judge Paul Huck decided Friday not to allow results of lie detector tests to be used in the trial of Guillermo Zarabozo, who is accused of killing four people on board the Joe Cool charter boat.
Zarabozo's attorneys say the tests back up his claims that he didn't kill anyone on the "Joe Cool" boat last September. Zarabozo has pleaded not guilty in the murders of Joe Cool's captain Jake Branam, his wife Kelly, and crew members Scott Gamble and Samuel Kairy.
Zarabozo blames the murders entirely on his co-defendant, 36-year-old Kirby Archer. Zarabozo contends it was Archer who fatally shot all four victims.
In July, Archer accepted a plea deal from prosecutors. In exchange for pleading guilty he will not face the death penalty. In his plea agreement, Archer admits to participating in the murders of the Joe Cool crew and admits to having shot and killed the Branams, but he says Zarabozo killed Gamble and Kairy. Archer will be sentenced October 2nd.
Federal prosecutors say they can prove Zarabozo also fired fatal shots.
Zarabozo's trial is set for next month. He is being held without bail.
The two men originally hired the 'Joe Cool' charter boat to go to the Bahamas, and then tried to divert it to Cuba. When the crew refused, they were shot, killed and dumped overboard. The bodies were never recovered.
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