By KRWG News
Las Cruces – Trial has begun for the last of three defendants charged with killing a prisoner found strangled to death at the Dona Ana County Detention Center nearly seven years ago.
Three prisoners who were in the cell with 32-year-old Philip T. Gantz were charged with killing him. Prosecutors said Gantz was assaulted because he was providing information about that area's drug trade to authorities and was to testify in a pending federal case.
Co-defendants Glynn Dell Cook and Walter Melgar-Diaz entered plea agreements and are cooperating with federal prosecutors.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/uirWkE) the trial for 44-year-old former county detention officer Paul O. Smalls is expected to finish this week. The federal charges carry a life sentence.
Smalls' lawyer says his client wasn't involved and maintains his innocence.
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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.