Crocker preliminary hearing testimony

Marcus Lamont Crocker dined on chicken, shrimp and ribs at an upscale Salt Lake restaurant shortly after shooting a convenience store clerk to death during a robbery and later "was just smiling" when watching TV, according to a witness and co-defendant.

Melissa Angela Chacon testified Thursday that she went along with plans for a robbery because she expected some cash and Crocker needed money because he was on the run from parole officers.

Another woman, Melissa Christina Caputo, who was formerly Chacon's best friend, was helping to hide Crocker. Caputo's then-boyfriend, Julian Treyvail Hayden, supplied the gun, according to Chacon.

Crocker, 27, is charged with capital murder in connection with the 2001 shooting death of Kang Ho Lee, 24, a University of Utah linguistics student who was working at the family-owned Sunshine Market in Salt Lake when the robbery took place. Police said Lee cooperated and turned over money, but was shot in the chest anyhow.

If convicted, Crocker could face the death penalty.

Chacon, now 32; Caputo, 29; and Hayden, 26, all face first-degree felony murder charges and other charges in connection with the crime.

Chacon spent most of the day on the witness stand and told in detail how she basically followed along with plans made by Crocker and Caputo, trailing them in her car throughout a convoluted series of steps that led to the shooting, the restaurant meal and then drinks and watching the TV news at Caputo's house.

Among other things, Chacon said she and Caputo bought clothes at a dollar store that could be used to fool police by "layering" one type of clothing on top of another, then quickly shedding the shirt, hat and bandana worn during the crime. Particular colors also were chosen because they were unlike those of Crocker's gang.

She said she saw Crocker walk quickly out of the store with a plastic bag, became angry when he and Caputo drove off without a word, and when she caught up with them in traffic, Crocker jumped out of Caputo's car, raced over and dropped a bandana-wrapped gun in a plastic bag into Chacon's car.

The trio then went to a pizza restaurant's parking lot to give the gun back to Hayden.

Chacon said she saw a gun butt earlier in the waistband of Crocker's pants and knew the plastic bag dumped in her car held something heavy and "it smelled of gunpowder." When asked how she knew what gunpowder smelled like, Chacon replied "from all the drive-bys" that she had taken part in.