Closing arguments to begin in murder case where bodies were posed and posted on Facebook
Members of a Wake County jury are expected to hear closing arguments Friday in the case of a 55-year-old man charged with strangling his wife and toddler daughter to death before posing, photographing and posting pictures of their bodies on his Facebook page.
Thursday marked the fourth day in the first-degree murder trial of Elhadji Seydou Diop, a native of Senegal who has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the April 5, 2016 deaths of his wife, Aminata Drame, 40, and the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Fatim Diop. Police say they were killed in their West Raleigh townhouse.
Police first accused Diop of strangling his wife and daughter to death, but prosecutors now think the daughter was smothered while trapped beneath her parents, who were fighting on the floor of their home.
Prosecutors rested their case Thursday after using the accused man and his wife's cell phone records as evidence to present the jury with a time line of events leading up to a verbal argument over the couple's financial difficulties. The argument turned physical, with the couple wrestling in the kitchen for about 10 minutes. At some point, police say, Diop murdered his wife.
Wake prosecutor Lorrin Freeman said Fatim Diop was trapped underneath the combatants, "crying out, asking the parents to stop," before she died.
Police found Drame's and Fatim's bodies at the bottom of a narrow, burgundy-carpeted staircase in the townhouse's basement. The mother and child were both on their backs, facing one another. Drame's arm was underneath her daughter.
Freeman said both sides agree the victims' bodies were moved and then posed.
Defense attorneys Charles Caldwell and Deonte Thomas did not present any evidence during Thursday's hearing. Instead, Caldwell asked Wake County Superior Court Judge Henry Height to dismiss the first- and second-degree murder charges, along with the possibility of voluntary manslaughter, in the death of Fatim, as well as the first- and second-degree murder charges in the death of Drame, who family members called "Amy."
Caldwell argued there was no evidence of premeditation, deliberation or malice because Diop did not intend to kill his wife and child.
The motion for a dismissal of the charges was not heard by the jury.
The defense attorney added that charges of felony murder should not be considered in the death of Fatim because her father was not armed with a deadly weapon while committing specific offenses under the felony murder rule.
Height denied the motion to dismiss the first-degree murder charges.
Prosecutors on Thursday called to the witness stand detectives who had culled data from the couple's cellphones to show the events on the day of the deaths. Drame had spent the morning shopping at a Walmart in Apex, Compare Foods and Dollar General. She used her phone several times that day, with the last call at 11:46 a.m.
Raleigh detective I.O. Smith said the location of Diop's device indicated he stayed home that day. Detective Robert Pike said it was 3:13 p.m. on the day of the slayings when Diop posted photos of his wife and child's bodies on Facebook with the caption, "Look what gd did2 me."
Minutes later, at 3:37 p.m., he said Diop posted "god do not exist."
At 3:41 p.m. Diop posted "my last day on heart."
Seconds later he posted, "look what gd did 2 me. a beautiful family all gone," and added three photos.
Pike said it was 4:04 p.m. when the distraught man posted "They died and I'm next," along with two more photos.
Pike said Diop's final post happened at 4:34 p.m., when he wrote, "why god let them die."
Police officers went to the family’s home after Diop’s niece, who lives in Dakar, Senegal, saw photos of the dead bodies of Drame and Fatim that Diop had apparently posted on his Facebook page.
Thomasi McDonald: 919-829-4533, @thomcdonald
This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Closing arguments to begin in murder case where bodies were posed and posted on Facebook."