He 'put a rope around her neck,' killing Tena Broadus, witness says. 'He is not an evil person.'

Joshua Peterman said he strangled Tena Broadus to death with a rope, a lifelong friend testified Thursday afternoon during the third day of Peterman's first-degree murder trial.

Justin Winters said that Peterman got in touch less than a week after Broadus' murder.

They eventually met near Peterman's house, said Winters, who is in the Harrison County Jail for violating parole on an unrelated embezzlement charge and wore an orange jail jumpsuit on the witness stand.

Peterman asked Winters to look after Peterman's mom. Peterman said somebody had died, Winters testified.

"He put a rope around her neck until she passed away," Winters said Peterman explained.

Broadus, 29, died a slow and brutal death in September 2015, with five people involved in either killing her or helping dispose of her body. All were using meth Peterman supplied throughout the day.

Peterman was a drug dealer, and although the jury has not been allowed to hear it, is a known member of the Simon City Royals gang.

The jury did hear from all of Peterman's accomplices on the stand, plus a Gulfport Police Department detective, a forensic investigator and others during the three-day trial prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Mitchell Owen and Crosby Parker. Attorney Phil Wittmann represented Peterman, who decided against testifying and did not call any witnesses.

Closing arguments are expected Friday morning. Judge Roger Clark will instruct the jury before deliberations begin.

Witnesses have testified that Peterman's then-new love interest, Kari Parker, helped drag Broadus to the garage behind his house and was beating her in the head with Peterman.

Broadus, who knew Peterman, had showed up at the house earlier and promptly gotten into a fight with Peterman and Parker, who thought she was "a snitch," witnesses said.

When Peterman told Winters about Broadus' death, Parker was there listening. "She just sat there grinning," Winters said. " . . . She looked like pure evil."

He also said he believed Parker instigated the killing. "I do not think he (Peterman) would have gone and done this on his own," Winters said. "He is not an evil person."

Parker testified that she never laid a hand on Broadus, instead saying Devin Gregory, who lived down the road, helped beat her and drag her to the garage. Gregory insisted Parker did those things.

Everyone agreed Peterman was in charge and supplied the meth they were shooting up or smoking throughout and after Broadus' final day.

Peterman needed to get rid of the body, so he texted a longtime friend he called “Mama Tasha,” Natasha Sellers. Sellers, a 43-year-old meth user from Ocean Springs, said what happened that night ruined her life.

Sellers also testified in a jail jumpsuit, having pleaded guilty in the case to accessory after the fact to murder.

When she showed up at the house, Sellers testified, Peterman “starts explaining to me that they have murdered someone because she snitched on him for robbing Coke machines ...

“He said he needs my vehicle and he needs my help to get rid of the body. I was scared. I didn't know what else to do.”

She knew none of the people at the house except Peterman, who backed up Sellers' SUV to the garage and loaded up a black plastic tool box — brought into the courtroom for the jury to see. Broadus' 4-foot-11-inch body, weighing 98 pounds, was folded inside, testimony indicated.

Peterman instructed Sellers on what to do next. The two drove to a nearby gas station, where Sellers went inside to buy starter fluid. She checked with Peterman through the store window to make sure she got the right kind. From the witness stand, she narrated a video that the jury watched of her time in the store.

In the SUV, Peterman talked about Broadus, too.

“He said she was a real trouper,” said Sellers, who had known Peterman for about 10 years and got meth from him. “She kept chewing through the duct tape. She kept begging for him to kill her, but he would tell her, 'No, not yet.' “

Aaron Bobinger, who has pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact in the case and testified, helped load the tool box into the SUV.

Bobinger had dropped Broadus off at the house earlier in the day. Broadus was his girlfriend and he learned of her death only after he returned to Peterman's house in the late afternoon looking for her. He, too, said he feared for his life while following Peterman's instructions.

Bobinger and Peterman were carrying the heavy box with Broadus' body into the woods, but Sellers said Bobinger “freaked” when the body fell out of the box. He returned to the SUV.

Parker said, “Move, p - - - y, I'll get it,” Sellers testified. Parker then helped Peterman tote the box. He dumped the body, head first, into a metal drum, poured in the starter fluid and lit it, Parker earlier testified.

“You seen the woods light up like they had been set on fire,” said Sellers, who stayed in the SUV.

Then, Sellers said, Peterman disposed of the box in a bayou and they headed to Island View Casino, where Sellers had free play. Next, they went to Sellers' house in Ocean Springs to get high again.

Peterman and Parker stayed for weeks, Sellers said. Sellers said that she feared them both. Peterman had wanted to kill Bobinger, too, she said. He reached for a rag and the lighter fluid before they left the body disposal site.

“He was going to take out Aaron right then,” she said, “but I begged him not to.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 12:11 PM.