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October 29, 2009

Derry man's murder described as a 'family affair'

By Jarret Bencks

BRENTWOOD — Prosecutors described the 2005 murder of Jack Reid as a "Brooks family affair" during opening arguments Wednesday in the murder trial of Jesse Brooks.

Brooks, 32, is the last of five men charged in the June 2005 death of Reid, a 57-year-old mover from Derry. Brooks' father, multimillionaire John "Jay" Brooks, was convicted last fall of plotting for about two years to kill Reid after he became convinced Reid was involved in the theft of a moving truck filled with family belongings in September 2003.

Jesse Brooks is charged with conspiracy to commit capital murder.

Prosecutors allege the younger Brooks helped his father plot the murder by recruiting the help of two of his closest friends, Andrew Carter and Michael Benton, to help kill Reid, and also assisted in trying to cover it up afterward.

"He called his best friend (Benton) and asked him to help his father commit murder," prosecutor Michael Lewis told the jury yesterday.

Prosecutors said Jesse Brooks put Carter and Benton in touch with his father after the theft in 2003, and tried to convince both of them to continue with efforts to kill Reid after a botched attempt that year. Carter is a state witness who was granted immunity.

Benton, Robin Knight of North Hampton and Joseph Vrooman of Whitville, Tenn., were part of the plot to lure Reid to a barn in Deerfield for a phony job. Once there, Vrooman pushed Reid into a small room, where Benton struck him in the head with a sledge hammer and John Brooks later hit him in the chest with the hammer. They wrapped Reid's body in plastic and left it in the back of his dump truck in a parking lot in Saugus, Mass.

Benton and Vrooman both struck deals with the prosecution and testified against the older Brooks and Knight in their murder trials. Both men were convicted and are serving life sentences. Brooks was convicted of capital murder and could have been sentenced to death, but jurors chose not to do so.

Benton and Vrooman received multiple payments for the murder, and were devoted to earning the trust of the Brooks family, prosecutors said yesterday.

"They wanted to demonstrate their loyalty to a wealthy family, to the defendant's family — to the Brooks family," Lewis said. "As the evidence will show, the murder was a Brooks family affair."

Lewis told the jury they will hear testimony from Carter and Benton, who will recount conversations he had with the younger Brooks while staying with him in Las Vegas after the murder occurred.

"Sitting together on his pool deck in Las Vegas, Benton said to Brooks, 'I killed that man for your family,' and the defendant responded, 'I know,'" Lewis said.

Defense attorney Maria Durant said evidence will show Jesse Brooks was not associated with his father's plans to murder Reid. He maintained a relationship with Benton, and took part in conversations with Benton and his father about his suspicions of Reid's involvement in the theft, but was not involved in the conspiracy to kill Reid, Durant said.

"The state's case is best summed up by three words - guilt by association," she told the jury.

Durant introduced Jesse Brooks to the jury during opening arguments yesterday. He stood, nodded and waved to the jury, and made a quiet greeting.

Jesse Brooks is the only child of John and Lorraine Brooks. He was raised in Londonderry and graduated from Londonderry High School. At the time of the theft in 2003, he was living in a condo in Beverly Hills, Calif. At the time of his arrest, he had known addresses in New Castle and Las Vegas.

If convicted, Brooks could be sentenced to 33 years to life in prison.

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