Trial begins for suspect accused in 2011 murder

Posey allegedly killed woman, dumped her body near Nanjemoy park

The first of two men accused of murdering a woman in 2011 is on tri- al this week in Charles County Circuit Court.

Prosecutors say Ray- mond Daniel Posey III, 24, and Darrayl John Wil- son, 25, both of Nanjemoy, killed Crystal Keyone Anderson, 29, and dumped her body down a ravine near Purse State Park in what they believe was a drug-related robbery.

Aside from her mother who said Anderson stopped by her Landover home briefly that night, witnesses say they last saw Anderson leaving a Nanjemoy house party with Posey and Wilson on July 26, 2011. The state believes the defendants had driven Anderson from the party to Prince George’s County, where she picked up PCP from her supplier, a drug she regularly sold and used.

When the three of them returned to the area lat- er that night, Posey and Wilson allegedly shot her to death and threw her body over a guardrail, down a steep hill, prosecutors said. The state also said Anderson’s death squashed a $2,000 drug debt Posey’s brother had owed to her.

Anderson remained missing for several months until a hiker stum- bled upon a boot with her leg bone still inside in Jan- uary 2012, according to court proceedings. Posey was arrested and held without bond in March 2015.

Appearing before Judge James West, Posey’s defense team, headed by Kevin Collins and Chase Johnson, is contesting the allegations brought by assistant state’s attorneys Francis Granados and Jonathan Beattie.

In his opening arguments, Granados told the jury that Posey’s guilty conscious connected him to the crime, and listed several people who will testify that he confessed to killing Anderson.

“His words and actions are his worst enemies in this case,” Granados said. “… This is someone whose conscience is eat- ing him alive,” adding that Posey attempted to com- mit suicide by hanging himself in a friend’s yard after he learned human remains had been discov- ered near the state park.

Granados said Posey and Wilson concocted a cover story that they had dropped Anderson off in Forestville.

Granados also referred to recorded jailhouse calls and a letter in which Posey attempted to persuade witnesses from tes- tifying against him.

In a May 2016 indict- ment, Posey was charged for allegedly attempting to interfere with wit- nesses on approximately nine separate occasions, including efforts to influence Wilson through a third party, court records show.

On June 13, after Posey appeared in court for a hearing, a female witness was approached by two men outside the court- house, according to court records. One man made a statement about just getting out of jail for kidnapping a woman, and the other reportedly offered her $10,000 not to testify.

Johnson challenged the allegations and told the jury that the state had become fixated on building a case against Posey, rather than conducting an objective investigation to discover the truth of what happened to Anderson.

Over five years after her death, the state still has ed her attackers a second time, adding that there were numerous other suspects who would have had a motive.

Regarding the suicide attempt, Johnson said Posey had tried to kill himself on multiple occasions, and argued that the attempt after Anderson’s remains were found had nothing to do with a guilty conscience, and instead pointed to financial and relationship woes.

Johnson also attacked the credibility of the witnesses who are expected to testify that Posey made admissions of guilt. “You didn’t hear from the state about some of the deals struck with these witnesses,” he said, noting that their testimony would benefit their own legal troubles.

The trial, expected to last two weeks, is ongoing as the state continued to call witnesses Tuesday afternoon.