The Galveston County Daily News

A self-admitted prostitute from Maryland testified Tuesday about the final moments in the life of a man who was beaten, choked and drowned in her hotel room after he failed to pay her for sex.

Mary Jowers, 33, implicated William Henry Perry, 50, and her boyfriend, Brian O’Neal Richardson, 28, in the April 12, 2008, death of Gary Wayne Bell. Both men are charged with murder in Bell’s killing.

In opening statements of Perry’s murder trial in Judge John Ellisor’s 122nd District Court in Galveston, prosecutor Larry Drosnes said Perry and Richardson tortured Bell out of rage.

Bell, who had just left prison, met Jowers at a La Marque motel, and sought her services for $250, Jowers said. The two went to another hotel room, where Jowers testified they smoked crack cocaine. She passed out and said she was raped, then Bell went through her purse and took her money.

The two then went to Jowers’ hotel at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Texas City.

Bell Hogtied

Richardson and Perry severely beat Bell in Room 112 of the Comfort Inn, 320 Highway 146 N., Jowers said. Perry dragged Bell into the bathroom, Jowers said. She could hear water running but wasn’t allowed in the bathroom, she said.

“Brian was going through the suitcases, looking for something to tie him up with,” Jowers said.

Bell was hogtied, wrapped in a bed sheet and shower curtain and stuffed in a closet, testimony revealed. His hands and feet were tied together behind his back.

Bell’s body remained in the hotel room for about 11 hours before Jowers rode with Richardson in Bell’s PT Cruiser to dump his body in Galveston Bay near 81st Street in Galveston, Jowers testified.

Guitar Sold For Crack

During that 11 hours, Jowers testified she sold Bell’s guitar for $50 worth of crack cocaine and smoked it in the room.

She also used Bell’s car to drive to service two men, Jowers said.

“Do you feel good about that?” Drosnes asked Jowers.

“No, I don’t,” Jowers said. “I have nightmares about it.”

Jowers’ testimony was biased and self-serving, Perry’s lead attorney, Jeremy B. DuCote, said.

Jowers, who was charged with tampering with evidence, agreed to testify truthfully against Perry in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence, testimony revealed.

Jowers admitted to lying to Texas City police during five interviews with investigators, trying to distance herself and Richardson from the killing, testimony revealed.

Jowers said daily crack use caused her to have memory loss and blackouts.

“I could be mistaken on the times, because when you get high, things seem to last longer,” Jowers said under cross examination.

‘Business Taken Care Of’

Joshua Coleman, who drove Perry to the Comfort Inn and Suites, testified he went there with his girlfriend to buy crack cocaine.

Coleman, 27, and his girlfriend waited in the parking lot as Perry went inside the morning of the killing, Coleman testified.

Perry stayed in the hotel about 17 minutes and then returned to Coleman’s car, Coleman said.

“He said, ‘Business was taken care of,’ and ‘We have a new PT Cruiser,’” Coleman said.

“He entered the car and changed his shirt. It appeared there were a couple spots of blood around the chest area.”

Security footage shows a man identified by Coleman as Perry getting into the back seat of Coleman’s car and taking off his shirt. DuCote denies blood was on Perry’s shirt.

Perry and another man then left in Bell’s PT Cruiser.

The state has no DNA evidence tying Perry to the killing, testimony revealed.

Testimony is expected to continue today at 9:30 a.m.