Alleged mass shooter takes the witness stand: 'I shot him, I feared for my life.'
Radee Prince, the man accused of shooting a Wilmington business owner in the face hours after killing three and injuring two more at his former workplace north of Baltimore in October, admitted to the Wilmington shooting from the witness stand Monday.
"He put his hand in his pocket like he was reaching for something so I shot him," Prince, 38, told the jury during his trial for first-degree attempted murder. "I feared for my life."
With the shooting and aftermath caught on camera, Prince's testimony was an effort to convince the jury that the act was self-defense or that Prince was in extreme emotional distress, which would lead to a guilty verdict for a less severe charge.
Prosecutors contend it was an assassination that was planned but botched.
"He is not there to talk. He is not there to fight," Deputy Attorney General Erika Flaschner told the jury in the prosecution's closing statements. "He is there to kill Jason Baul."
Earlier in the day, Prince testified he had a long-running feud with his victim, Rashan "Jason" Baul, who was shot in the face and pelvis by Prince at 28th Street Auto Sales on Governor Printz Boulevard.
Prince told the jury about his two-decade-long relationship with his fiancée and vocation as a technical machinist. He said he feared for the safety of his family, claiming Baul had a $10,000 bounty on him.
"I feared for my life," Prince repeated multiple times during his testimony. "He had means to do it. He showed his history that he was willing to do it."
He described multiple run-ins with Baul that he said caused him to fear for his safety and the well-being of family members. The two had known each other through family since childhood. Their relationship soured when Baul testified against Prince's brother in a criminal case over stolen car parts, Prince said.
"I said he was a rat," Prince told the jury. "It got back to him. He hired a couple guys ... to assault me."
Prince described leaving a Wilmington nightclub when he was confronted by several men.
"The first blow was a stab to my face," Prince said. "I woke up in the trauma unit."
From the witness stand, Prince's sister, who was there that night, connected the attackers to Baul, who denied any involvement with the attack.
Months later, in January 2016, the two fought inside Prince's father's home. Prince said the two exchanged shoves and he punched Baul before family members broke up the fight.
Prince then said Baul hit him with his truck, smashing him through a fence and bruising his ribs.
"Jason, in his Silverado pickup, tries to kill him," Michael Heyden, Prince's attorney, told the jury during his closing argument.
In testimony last week, Baul said he didn't hit Prince, didn't want to hurt him and was simply trying to knock him over with his truck because he feared Prince was heading for a gun in his vehicle.
He also claimed Prince tried to rob him during the initial scuffle inside. Prince was the only individual charged in the incident and those charges were later dropped.
The two clashed again at Prince's father's funeral in spring of 2016. Prince and family members testified that Baul pulled a gun on Prince as they were leaving the funeral, a claim Baul denied during his testimony.
"Jason was saying 'I'm sick of you. I'm sick of you,'" said a Prince family friend who witnessed the incident, which Baul also denied from the witness stand.
Prince testified that he later learned that a $10,000 bounty had been put on his life.
He said that information came from family, but declined to name individuals. One inmate was called to the stand purportedly to testify about Baul offering to pay him the sum for the hit. He invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions.
Another inmate, who was Prince's neighbor in the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, took the stand and said he was present when Baul offered the other inmate $10,000 for the hit and gave him Prince's Elkton address.
He told the jury they scouted the neighborhood and returned to tell Baul he was unsure if they could find someone to execute the job in that neighborhood. Baul denied ever soliciting anyone for Prince's murder.
"Ask yourself if that is something that was conveniently conjured up after the fact," Deputy Attorney General Mark Denney said.
Prince told the jury he had moved to Elkton and kept his location a secret from most because he feared Baul. His fiancée told the jury that Prince had developed "constant paranoia," nighttime pacing and complete lack of trust in anyone.
"He thought that he and his family, his fiancée, was going to be harmed by Mr. Baul," Heyden told the jury.
Prince said the Saturday before the shooting, he saw one of Baul's employees in his neighborhood and knew his whereabouts would be relayed to Baul. He said he went to Baul's business with the intention of talking to him, not killing him.
Prince said that when he entered the small, back office, Baul made a gesture toward his pockets so he began to fire in self-defense.
Video from the shooting shows Prince entering the room and gunfire starting nearly immediately. It also shows Prince exiting the room, unjamming his gun, picking up bullets from the ground, leaving the building, returning and lining up more shots and trying to shove his way back in the door, which Baul had barricaded.
Denney questioned if the shooting was self-defense, why did Prince leave the office, unjam his gun and return, continuing to shoot.
In the video, Prince can be heard telling Baul to "bleed out, bitch" as he parted.
Heyden noted that there were bullets left in the handgun after the attack and that Prince knew Baul was still alive when he left.
"If Radee wanted to kill him, he would have emptied that gun," Heyden said.
The shooting near Baltimore that Prince is charged with was intentionally kept out of the trial so as not to prejudice jurors.
That changed Monday when presiding Judge Charles E. Butler ruled that if Prince's defense was going to make his state of mind that day a point in the evidence, then discussion of the Maryland shootings, which directly preceded the Wilmington attack, was relevant and admissible.
Police say around 9 a.m. the morning of the Delaware shooting, Prince opened fire at his former workplace, Advanced Granite Solutions in Edgewood, Maryland, killing three people and seriously injuring two.
He pleaded his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to testify when asked about the Maryland shootings Monday.
Prosecutors showed the jury a video of the shooting. In the short clip, a man police identified as Prince enters a workshop where about six people are working. He's followed by others and can be seen tapping others on the shoulder as he gathers them in a circle.
Then he can be seen pointing a black handgun and firing at the people gathered. Some scramble, others drop to the ground. Before the video ends, the man police identify as Prince can be seen walking up to one of the victims on the ground and shooting him in the head.
Denney said the Maryland shooting speaks more to Prince's state of mind than any fear of Baul.
"Was that day something so awful he was determined: 'I have one mission left,' " Denney asked the jury.
The case is now in the hands of the jury, which will begin deliberation Tuesday on whether Prince is guilty of first-degree attempted murder, reckless endangering, resisting arrest and weapons charges.
He will be tried on the Maryland charges at a later date.
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.
PRIOR COVERAGE
Wilmington victim of shooting spree describesattack
Mass shooting suspect: many prior arrests, few convictions
Mass shooter told victim to 'bleed out,' according to prosecutors