Judge Denies 5 Defense Witnesses in CommSta Murder Trial

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)

A judge Monday refused to allow five defense witnesses to testify in the trial of the man charged with killing two co-workers at a Kodiak Coast Guard communication station.
One rejected Kodiak witness was detained for trying to carry a gun through security at the Anchorage federal building.
The five were called in the trial of 62-year-old James Wells, who’s charged with shooting James Hopkins and Richard Belisle.
One defense theory is that the killings were random and that a suspect who should have been investigated is Jason Barnum, a man with striking tattoos who five months later was charged with attempting to kill an Anchorage police officer.
U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline ruled that Barnum had no connection to the victims and disallowed testimony about him.