Brian Johnson, 44, and Damien Johnson, 38, are standing trial before Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier on charges of murder and could each face life in prison.
TRENTON — Prosecutors yesterday showed a jury photos of a Hamilton man’s lifeless body, taken after he was shot in the face during a December 2008 home invasion in Trenton.
Trenton police officer Robert Villa said the photos, which showed 38-year-old Joseph Costanza dead on a living room floor with a gunshot wound to his face, depicted what he saw when he got to the home the night of Dec. 1, 2008.
“I was able to see the victim through the glass on the screen door,” Villa said. “There was sufficient lighting.”
Villa and his partner were the first to arrive at the home on the 1400 block of South Clinton Avenue after Costanza’s murder.
Brian Johnson, 44, and Damien Johnson, 38, are standing trial before Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier on charges of murder, first-degree felony murder, robbery, burglary and weapons charges. If convicted, each defendant could face life in prison.
Mark Walker, a former friend of the Johnsons, testified yesterday that the men told him they wanted to enter the house and steal drugs and money. A witness in the case has previously testified that he used heroin at the home, which had multiple occupants.
Costanza, a U.S. Navy veteran and college student, was in the house at the time the Johnsons entered and was shot because he flinched, Walker said yesterday.
On Monday another witness, Linda Tesauro Hillman testified that Costanza stood up as if he was going to show the masked intruders he had no money in his pockets, and was then shot.
Walker said he and the Johnsons used to drive around Trenton and
drink coffee. It was during one of those rides that Brian Johnson told him he wanted to steal from the house because he saw people coming and going and knew they were dealing drugs or “eating.”
“I didn’t really take it no type of way, though. We’re riding around all over, people are eating all over the city,” Walker said. “That’s what was around there: dope fiends.”
Damien Johnson’s attorney Bruce Throckmorton said the Johnsons did not actually plan to steal drugs or money, and have observed drug dealing all over the city and have not committed robberies elsewhere.
“It really wasn’t very meaningful; it was just a comment,” Throckmorton said.
Walker said the men drove by the house a few days later and saw the police tape out front. The Johnsons admitted to stealing heroin from the house and shooting Costanza, he said.
“It went past like it was nothing,” Walker said of the confession.
He said he was with the men later when they threw the gun into the Delaware River, but he stayed in the car when they got out to make sure it sank to the bottom.
Walker said Damien Johnson planned to take the stolen heroin to Camden to sell, but the deal fell through.
Contact Alyssa Mease at amease@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5673.
CONNECT WITH US:
On mobile or desktop:
• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook
• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter