Trial opens in 2001 slaying

• By VIC COUVILLION
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Oct 29, 2009 - Page: 4B

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AMITE — A prosecutor told the jury Wednesday that in the course of a botched attempt to rob the Piggly Wiggly Supermarket in Independence on the night of March 26, 2001, Kelvin Thomas shot and killed store employee Vincent Bacile.

Thomas, 32, of Tickfaw, is on trial on a second-degree murder charge in Bacile’s death.

Assistant District Attorney Don Wall, prosecuting the case in 21st Judicial District Court, told the jury in his opening statement that Thomas, one of a trio of would-be robbers, was the triggerman who shot Bacile in the neck at close range.

Defense attorney Michael Thiel countered in his opening statement that the other two men involved in the robbery, Gary Matthews and Christopher Johnson, are the only witnesses who have pointed to Thomas as the gunman.

Thiel said both Johnson and Matthews have something to gain by blaming Thomas for the shooting.

In 2003, Johnson was sentenced to 25 years on a manslaughter charge in the case.

In 2004, Matthews received an eight-year sentence for attempted armed robbery in the incident. Both are still in prison.

Wall gave the jurors the prosecution’s account of the incident.

Thomas and Johnson conspired with Matthews to rob the Piggly Wiggly, where Matthews’ mother worked and where Matthews knew about a stairway in the rear of the store that led to the attic, Wall said.

On the day of the robbery, Thomas and Johnson climbed into the attic, where they waited for the store to close at 9 p.m., the prosecutor said.

After the store had closed, Thomas and Johnson entered the store and, wearing masks, assaulted store manager Roy Navarre and Bacile, he said.

Thomas and Johnson, who were then joined by Matthews, had planned to tie up Navarre and Bacile with duct tape, then rob the store’s office, Wall said.

Navarre’s wife, Barbara, and another employee were in the office.