| Connecticut Post Newspaper Thursday, March 22, 2007 By - Daniel Tepfer Victim's mother relives his death Bridgeport - Eva Kiss was brought to tears Wednesday as she listened to the details of her son Zoltan's last moments as murder trial testimony continued in Superior Court. But across the courtroom, Miguel Zapata was all smiles as he listened to his former girlfriend plant him firmly at the murder scene. Catherine Perez, the sixth witness called by Senior Assistant State's Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr., testified she had just gotten out of the shower at her third-floor apartment on Pembroke Street in the early morning of Sept. 28, 2001, when she heard gunshots. Perez said she ran to the window, looked out on Pembroke Street, and saw Zapata, her former boyfriend, firing into a white car. "There was this white guy in the car and he was screaming," she said, letting out a blood- curdling scream in the courtroom to mimic what she heard. "He was screaming, screaming so loud," she continued, breaking into tears. After taking a moment to compose herself, she added: "I can still hear his screams in my mind." Eva Kiss bent forward in her seat in the courtroom and covered her face with her hands. Asked by Satti to demonstrate how Zapata was shooting, Perez stood in the witness box and clenched her hands out in front of her. "It lasted quite a while and I saw the white guy lay back in his seat," she said. Zapata sat at the defense table smiling at Perez during her testimony. Earlier, he was cautioned about his bahavior by Judge Lawrence Hauser after was accused by Satti of making threatening motions to witnesses. Zapata, 22, of Bridgeport, is facing a 12-member jury charged with Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, and Carrying a pistol without a permit. He is accused, along with Orema Taft, 30, of fatally shooting Kiss, 24, of Toronto, who police said went to Pembroke Street to buy the drug ecstacy. Zapata was later arrested in Tennessee. Taft is awaiting trial. Zapata is represented by Francis O'Reilly. |
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