Cousin Says He Was Horn's Middleman; Defendant, Perry Asked Him to Help Them Communicate,

He Testifies: [FINAL Edition]!

Thomas E. Turner , a cousin from Detroit, was not the first relative of Lawrence T. 's to testify he
suspected Horn was involved in the murders of Horn's former wife, only son and the 8-year-old boy's
overnight nurse. That merely echoed earlier testimony from Horn's oldest daughter and others who knew
the murders cleared the way for the former Motown engineer to inherit the boy's $1.7 million estate.!

What made Turner's testimony so crucial today was his vantage point. He testified that he found himself
being used by Horn as a go-between with James Edward Perry, who has been convicted of carrying out
the murders.!

Horn, 56, is on trial for allegedly hiring Perry, a former Detroit man who billed himself as a "spiritual
adviser" and all-around fixer and whom Turner described as his best friend. Turner testified that he
frequently drummed up business for Perry, handing his business cards to passengers in the taxi he
sometimes drove and keeping fliers for Perry's "House of Wisdom" in his home.!

When Turner's cousin, Lawrence Horn, showed up in Detroit from his Hollywood home in the spring of
1992, Turner said, he referred him to Perry after hearing him complain of troubles establishing visitation
with his children, who lived in Silver Spring with his former wife, Mildred.!

"Give Mr. Perry a call, because he helps people," Turner said he told his cousin.!

But, Turner testified, he eventually worried about the nature of Perry's "help."!

First, Turner said, he saw newspaper clippings about the March 1993 slayings of Mildred Horn, nurse
Janice Roberts Saunders and severely retarded Trevor Horn, whose estate was from a settlement in the
hospital accident that left him a quadriplegic.!

Then, Turner testified, he began to wonder why in the months after the slayings both Horn and Perry
worried aloud about wiretaps on their phones. He said each asked Turner to help arrange times and
places when they could speak on lines they considered "clean."!

"I got to thinking I was brought into something and I didn't know exactly what," Turner testified.!

"I had my . . . suspicions," he said.!

As he did at Perry's trial in the fall, Turner testified under a promise of full immunity from prosecution. But
the 52-year-old unemployed truck driver appeared more comfortable on the stand today than he had
testifying against his friend. Turner returned Horn's smile in the courtroom but then volunteered
misgivings he had admitted only reluctantly in the fall.!

Turner's testimony was reinforced by an FBI wiretap that captured both Horn and Perry calling Turner with
messages for the other. Jurors heard tapes and followed along on transcripts of a flurry of such calls in
the days after agents searched Perry's home.!

Perry's account of the search "kind of confirmed some thoughts that I may have had," Turner testified. He
said it was shortly afterward that he withdrew what he called his "service" as middleman.!

"I approached Mr. Perry and told him whatever business he had with my cousin they should conduct it
between themselves," Turner said.!

On cross-examination, Horn's attorney found at least patches of fertile ground for a defense strategy that
lays all the blame for the killings on Perry. Turner had told prosecutors on direct examination that he and
Perry met in prison, but defense attorney Paul B. DeWolfe let jurors know that Perry was doing time after
shooting a police officer.!

Then DeWolfe, elaborating on his suggestion in his opening statement that Perry planned and carried out
the murders without Horn's knowledge, repeatedly described Perry as "very secretive, even with you."!

Turner agreed that he was. He said he never was entirely sure how Perry made a living.!

"You didn't know that, even prior to Mr. Horn ever coming into the picture, that he was purchasing a book
called `Hit Man'?" DeWolfe asked. "No," Turner said.!

Perry was sentenced to death three times in October. Horn could face the same penalty if convicted. He
is being tried here after exercising his option as a defendant in a capital case to move the trial from its
originating jurisdiction.!

Credit: Washington Post Staff Writer!

Word count: 689!

Copyright The Washington Post Company Apr 25, 1996!