Witness: Patricia Prue admitted to strangling

Patricia Prue told a fellow inmate in the fall of 2013 that her husband did not murder St. Johnsbury teacher Melissa Jenkins, the inmate testified Monday as Allen Prue's trial entered its third week.

"She said, 'My husband did not kill Melissa Jenkins,'" Amy Beede told the jury.

Beede, who was incarcerated along with Patricia Prue at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, was the first person to testify for the defense after the state rested its case against Allen Prue shortly after 9:30 a.m.

The defense presented four witnesses Monday, then rested its case late in the afternoon after Allen Prue declined to testify in his own defense.

Allen Prue, 32, of Waterford is accused of conspiring with his wife to lure, kidnap and murder Jenkins in March 2012. His kidnapping charge was amended on Friday to include the word "attempted."

A final jury of 12, who will decide Allen Prue's fate, will be chosen on Tuesday from the pool of nine men and seven women who had been picked to hear the case. The jury will hear closing statements from the lawyers in the case Tuesday morning.

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Prosecutors, with the jury out of the courtroom, attempted to block Beede's testimony Monday morning, arguing that she was not a credible witness. Judge Robert Bent decided to allow her testimony.

Beede said she was given cleaning duties while at the South Burlington jail where she and Patricia Prue were both incarcerated. Patricia Prue would be allowed out of her cell only when all other inmates were in their cells, except for Beede who was cleaning, she said.

Patricia Prue is scheduled to be tried separately on murder, kidnapping and sexual assault charges. Police believe the Prues zeroed in on Jenkins as someone they could "play with" sexually.

According to Beede, Patricia Prue approached her three times while Beede was cleaning in the jail. The first time, Patricia Prue introduced herself to Beede with a "giggly expression and body language," Beede said.

A few days later, Beede said Patricia Prue approached Beede a second time and asked if she could speak with her.

"I'm thinking to myself, 'Why does she want to talk to me?'" Beede recalled.

Beede said that Patricia Prue began to shake her head saying, "He didn't kill her." Beede said their conversation was brief.

A few days later, Patricia Prue approached Beede again, asking to talk. Beede consented, even though she said the topic made her uncomfortable.

"I gave her an ear because I know what it's like to need someone to talk to and not want to talk to a guard," Beede said on Monday.

Beede said Patricia Prue told her that the night she and her husband went to meet Jenkins, Patricia Prue pulled Jenkins by her hair into the backseat of the Prues' car. Patricia Prue told Beede that she began to strangle Jenkins, yelling to Allen Prue, "You want to (expletive) her now? You want to (expletive) her now?"

Patricia Prue told Beede that Allen Prue drove off with the two women in his car because he panicked, Beede said.

According to Beede, Patricia Prue's normally cheerful demeanor changed when speaking about Jenkins. Patricia Prue suddenly had an aggressive look and body language, clenching her fists as she spoke, Beede recalled.

Beede had trouble remembering a few of the details and said that was because of her post-traumatic stress disorder and her desire to forget the encounter. Beede said she became angry about Jenkins' murder upon finding out that Jenkins was a teacher.

"This whole thing haunted me," Beede told the jury, breaking into tears. "I tried to forget everything."

Beede sent two letters to Caledonia County State's Attorney Lisa Warren one year after Patricia Prue's confession, disclosing the information she had been given. She also provided a written statement to the Vermont State Police less than two months before trial.

Warren, in her cross-examination of Beede, challenged Beede's credibility, getting her to admit she didn't remember some of the story about Patricia Prue she had provided in a sworn statement.

At one point, Warren handed Beede the statement and asked her if that was her signature on the document.

"I don't remember writing this, but it is my handwriting," Beede said. Beede did acknowledge that the signature was hers.

Other testimony

Beede was one of four defense witnesses heard Monday, including Allen Prue's mother, a St. Johnsbury woman with whom the Prues had a consensual sexual relationship and a psychologist who evaluated Allen Prue and testified on police interview tactics.

Allen Prue's mother Donna Prue said that her son changed once he began to see Patricia Prue in 2008. Patricia Prue did not work, but she went everywhere with Allen Prue, Donna Prue said. Her son began to lose interest in sports and television as his relationship with Patricia Prue matured, Donna Prue said.

According to Donna Prue, she got along with her son's wife "for the most part."

"She could be very funny, very caring," Donna Prue said. "She could be very moody... She was all over the place with her moods."

Sylvia Dean, who met Patricia Prue online and agreed to meet with them four times to engage in sexual acts, said Patricia Prue seemed to be the more controlling person of the two. Dean said she was not aware at first that the two were married.

The last time Dean heard from the Prues was in February 2012 via an email from Allen Prue, she said.

In comparison with what Dean said was Patricia Prue's more outgoing personality, Allen Prue was "very shy and timid."

Earlier in the day, Allen Prue's attorney Bob Katims attempted to get his client's charges lowered, arguing that the state did not present enough evidence to prove premeditation or conspiracy. Instead, Katims argued that a sexual assault was premeditated, but not the murder.

Judge Bent decided to leave the decision up to the jury, saying that weighing whether the state's evidence on premeditation was convincing would be part of the jurors' final decision.

According to police, Patricia and Allen Prue lured Jenkins from her home by telling her they needed help because their car had broken down. Her body was found a day later in the water at a Connecticut River boat access area in Barnet.

Katims has argued that Patricia Prue strangled Jenkins without warning her husband.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.