Simon City Royal's girlfriend 'cool, calm' about slitting a woman's throat, witness says

Prosecutors portrayed Joshua Peterman as a heartless killer and the feared leader in charge of a motley crew of "meth heads" who stood by as he killed 29-year-old Tena Marie Broadus because he feared she would snitch on him.

Broadus suffered a slow and agonizing death on September 18, 2015, in a shed behind Peterman's Gulfport home, Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Owen told a jury Tuesday as the trial began in Circuit Court.

Owen said during opening arguments the jury would be hearing from the meth users who were with Peterman that day.

Peterman, a known member of the Simon City Royals gang, became agitated at several points as the trial opened.

At one point, Judge Roger Clark had to send the jury out and tell Peterman to keep quiet or he would be removed from his own trial.

During opening statements, Owen told jurors: "What you will soon learn from these individuals is they are all dregs of society. They are very clear about one thing and they are consistent about one thing: This defendant was in charge."

Owen said that Peterman "brutally tortured and murdered" Broadus in the shed, stuffed her body in a plastic bin, loaded it into an SUV, drove down O'Neal Road to a secluded area, dumped her body in a 55-gallon drum, poured in some accelerant and set the body on fire.

They returned the next morning, Owen said, when Peterman tossed her skull and what remained of her skeleton into the Biloxi River. A young man who was with Peterman, Devin Gregory, testified late Tuesday that he was scared Peterman would kill him next.

Both Owen and Gregory said Peterman wanted Broadus dead because she had given police Peterman's name a few nights earlier, after the three tried to steal change from vending machines.

But Peterman's attorney, public defender Phil Wittmann, told the jury during his opening statement that the prosecution's witnesses are unreliable.

"We simply ask that you listen to the evidence," Wittmann said, "Listen to the witnesses. ... There was a lot of drug use going on, a lot of people high. ... You'll hear stories that change."

Peterman's girlfriend, Kari Parker, already has pleaded guilty in the case to second-degree murder. She could be testifying against him Wednesday.

Devin Gregory, the second and final witness Tuesday, also has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Both will be sentenced at a later date.

Gregory, who was 18 at the time, said Peterman and Parker got into a fight with Broadus when she showed up that day at Peterman's house.

He said the couple took Broadus to a shed and were beating her with their fists and the butt end of a machete. Gregory said Peterman told him to go get Duct tape. Peterman used the tape to tie Broadus to a chair and later hung her by her feet from a beam in the shed, Gregory said.

They were inside smoking meth while Broadus was in the shed screaming, he said. Peterman told Gregory to go to his house nearby and get some sleeping pills to sedate Broadus.

While Gregory was at his house, he said that Peterman called and said he wouldn't be needing the pills after all because, "the situation's under control."

Gregory returned to Peterman's house with a meth pipe.

"Kari told me that she cut the girl's (Broadus') throat," Gregory said. "She was just cool, calm and collected.

"Really, I started freaking out even worse. ... I threw up in the sink."

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Simon City Royal's girlfriend 'cool, calm' about slitting a woman's throat, witness says."