Part II: A Dealer On Trial
No one ever expected that dealing pot would end in murder, until Danny Petrole was gunned down in March 2001.
At 21, Petrole had become head of one of the largest-known drug rings in northern Virginia - and it was an operation that stretched from coast to coast.
Key to the prosecution's case against Justin Wolfe is his one-time friend Owen Barber, who claims that Wolfe hired him to kill Petrole.
Prosecutors Paul Ebert and Rick Conway argue that a drug debt gave Wolfe motive to kill.
"He just did not like to pay his debts," says Conway. "He liked to have money coming in, not going out."
According to investigators, Wolfe owed Petrole almost $70,000. Barber, however, had a drug debt of his own - $3,000 - to Wolfe. So for a total of about $20,000 in money and drugs, Barber says, he made a deal with Wolfe to kill Danny Petrole.
At the trial, prosecutors introduced cell-phone records from the night of the murder. Barber testified that after a routine Petrole-to-Wolfe drug buy, he followed Petrole for more than an hour, calling Wolfe to give him updates throughout the pursuit. Wolfe was the last person Barber called before he killed Petrole, and the first after the shooting.
"And then," says Conway, "you do not see any more phone calls from Wolfe's phone to Barber's phone."
Within days of the murder, Barber left town, ending up in San Diego. He says that Wolfe never paid him for killing Petrole. "And he never called me back, and he didn't keep up his full end of the bargain," said Barber at the trial.
Jennifer Pasquariello, Barber's girlfriend at the time, drove to San Diego to be with him. They were running out of money, so she wrote a letter to Wolfe's friend, asking Wolfe for money.
Pasquariello and Barber say they asked for the payment owed for the murder. But before Pasquariello could mail the letter, authorities arrested Barber in San Diego. He confessed and implicated Wolfe.
If convicted, Wolfe faces the death penalty. But despite the risks of going up against tough prosecutors, Wolfe insists on taking the stand.
"I made a lot of mistakes in the past, but I didn't ever hurt nobody in my life, never," he says.
But when confronted by the prosecution, he had a hard time explaining the numerous cell phone calls he exchanged with Barber on the night Petrole was murdered.
In a surprising move during closing arguments, the defense tried to point the finger at Wolfe's friend, Jason Coleman. Coleman, 28, lived with Owen Barber, and he sold Barber the gun used to shoot Petrole. It seemed to be a desperate move: "There's no evidence that he was actually involved in any way with that murder," says Ebert.
After three weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated for little more than an hour before finding Wolfe guilty of capital murder. "It just floored me," says Wolfe.
"They took one hour. That's all they gave to decide Justin's life. Justin's fate." says Wolfe's mother, Terri.
Jurors Myles Ganley, Patricia Grisham, and Tim Lukkarinen say they believed Barber's testimony over Wolfe's. "If it was Justin against Owen, who could you believe? They're both thugs, they're both liars involved with drugs, tied up in greed," says Lukkarinen. "But it was the other circumstantial evidence that just made his story fit."
But Wolfe still insists he's innocent. Wolfe says that Coleman told him that Barber had told Coleman that he did the murder on his own. As a result, he believes that Coleman's testimony could have helped prove his innocence.
Prosecutors, however, say they heard a very different story from Coleman. "[Coleman] was one of the first ones that indicated that Barber would never have done anything like this if it weren't the wishes of Justin Wolfe," says Ebert.
"What he has to say, I think, may depend on who's asking and when you ask," says Conway. But soon after, Coleman also disappears from sight.
At his sentencing hearing, Wolfe took the stand again, hoping the jury that convicted him of murder would spare his life.
"I don't want to die," says Wolfe.
The jury gave him the death penalty. Since then, his mother has devoted herself full time to his appeal.
"If they want to do this to Justin, they are going to have to take us kicking and screaming," says Terri Wolfe.
Although Wolfe still insists he's innocent, he now understands that his choices have led to enormous grief for his family.
"I don't know what happened," he says. "I just don't know."
Since 48 Hours last brought you this story, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld Justin Wolfe's murder conviction and death sentence. Now, Wolfe and his family is trying to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Regina Zeuner, a close friend of Wolfe, was charged with misdemeanor drug possession. Jennifer Pasquariello was charged as an accessory after the fact to murder. But the charges against both of them were dropped when they agreed to testify against their friend, Justin Wolfe.