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Natuchka Etienne told Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian in Hackensack today that she’s prepared to testify against Randy Manning, whose trial began Tuesday.
In return, accomplice charges that were originally brought against Etienne will be dropped as long as she follows the requirements of the Pre-Trial Intervention Program, including regular phone monitoring, for a year or less. She also must testify against Manning if called.
Randy Manning (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
Etienne, who lived Manning in Brooklyn around the time of the August 2011 murder, was able to return to her native Florida, Jerejian said.
“Just stay out of trouble,” the judge told her. “You can come back in six months and, if everything’s good, the charges can be dismissed.”
Manning is being tried along with Delroy Clarke, who authorities said helped Manning escape after he dumped the burnt body of Rhian “Kampane” Stout in the victim’s Chevy Tahoe on a Paramus cul-de-sac.
Prosecutors said Clarke also helped Manning destroy evidence.
Prosecutors already have Manning’s brother, Cory, who said he saw his brother emerge with a gun from the rear of a Tryon Avenue house in Englewood where Kampane’s body had been burned on Aug. 15, 2011.
Prosecutors said the Glock was used to kill Stoute. It was never recovered.
Natuchka Etienne (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
Evidence that authorities say they do have includes records of cellphone calls made among Randy Manning, Clarke and Etienne; eyewitness testimony of a Paramus neighbor who said he saw Manning leave Stoute’s car, with his body in it, on Village Square West; a bloody footprint on boxes that were found under Stoute’s body in the Tahoe, and clothing tied to the murder that was recovered from a Brooklyn storm drain.
The sweatshirt matches one that the Paramus witness said he saw the man running from the Tahoe wearing, they said.
Manning, a national of Trinidad and Tobago who used to live on Belmont Street in Englewood before moving to Brooklyn, contends that a confession he gave police was made under duress — including threats that Etienne would be jailed on $2 million bail.
Clarke’s attorney, meanwhile, insists his client had nothing to do with Stoute’s murder — and pointed the finger at Cory Manning.
Prosecutors have yet to disclose a possible motive for the murder. Nor have they described the relationship between Randy Manning and Stoute, who had spent the day before the killing shopping together at malls in Paramus.
EARLIER THIS WEEK:
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: The key witness for prosecutors in the trial of a man charged with killing rapper Kampane, setting his body on fire in an empty Englewood house and then leaving the corpse in an SUV parked on a Paramus cul-de-sac will be the defendant’s own brother. READ MORE ….
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CLIFFVIEW PILOT BROKE THE STORIES:
- Trial set in Englewood murder of rapper Kampane: The man accused of murdering rapper Kampane, setting his body on fire in an empty Englewood house and then leaving the corpse in an SUV parked on a Paramus cul-de-sac will go to trial in January. READ MORE….
- Kampane’s accused killer claims Miranda rights violation: A judge in Hackensack is expected to rule on whether the man accused of murdering rapper Kampane, burning his body and then leaving it in a car on a Paramus side street was properly read his rights before being questioned by police. READ MORE…
Rhian “Kampane” Stoute
- Arrests in murder of rapper Kampane: An ex-con shot the rapper Kampane in the head in a vacant Englewood house, torched the place, then went back to the scene the next day, removed the charred body and left it in the rear cargo of the victim’s SUV on a quiet Paramus street, say authorities who arrested him and two accused accomplices. READ MORE….
- Autopsy confirms rapper Kampane shot before body burned: The rapper Kampane was shot in the head and killed, then torched in a vacant Englewood apartment, by a former city resident who later went back to the scene, removed the charred body and left it in the rear cargo of the victim’s SUV on a Paramus street, say authorities who arrested him and two accused accomplices. READ MORE….
- Burned body of rapper Kampane found in car in Paramus: The man whose burned body was found in the cargo area of an SUV on a quiet Paramus street this morning has been identified as Brooklyn rapper Kampane. In a tragic irony, the hip-hop artist’s revamped website opens with the sound of a police siren. READ MORE….
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Born in Brooklyn, raised in Flatbush, Stoute was related to the producer J Runnah, who has worked with Jay Z, among others.
“It’s all about the game and how you play your cards,” Stoute sang, touting the joys of living and enjoying the rewards of his new-found fame.
He released his first mix tape in 1997, then went on tour in 2000 with J Runnah and Roc-a-Fella, learning the music business, according to his website, iamkampane.com.
He was in the middle of a major promotional push behind his new music video, “What You Drinkin’ On,” a playful tune, complete with one-liners and wordplay about champagne and other spirits. “This is Part One / I’m tryin’ to get to Part Two,” he sings. “Let’s get it on.”
Stoute would have turned 34 two weeks after he was murdered.
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