KNOXVILLE - An attorney for a woman charged in the slaying of a young Knoxville couple says the defendant was being held captive by her boyfriend who has already been convicted of the murders.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports attorney Ted Lavit told jurors in his opening statement on Monday that Vanessa Coleman was kidnapped at gunpoint by Letalvis Cobbins in the house where victims Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom were held before their deaths in January 2007.
Cobbins, Lemaricus Davidson and George Thomas were convicted in separate previous trials of Christian and Newsom's slayings. Davidson was sentenced to death while the other two will spend life in prison.
Prosecutors have conceded that Coleman was unaware that the three men intended to carjack the couple but say they have proof of Coleman's involvement in the crimes.