By Lawrence Buser
Posted November 4, 2010 at 12:24 p.m., updated November 4, 2010 at 11:21 p.m.
Flippant denials and remarks by a murder defendant Thursday sent the victim's sister from the courtroom in tears and moments later led to an angry shouting match outside the courtroom between the defendant's wife and other spectators.
At one point in his testimony, defendant Bradley Scott acknowledged that he had a file of graphic crime-scene photos of victim Nora Blanco in his jail cell and did not deny telling his grandmother, "I can't believe I'm losing everything over a (expletive) piece of (expletive)."
Scott, 28, is charged with the murder and rape of the 29-year-old woman on Dec. 22, 2008, in her home at 4129 Truman just east of Graham. The Criminal Court case is expected to go to the jury today.
Blanco, a Mexican immigrant who did housekeeping work at a Downtown hotel, was beaten on the head with a marble threshold tile and then was strangled when she was hanged from a hallway door knob with a wire coat hanger.
Her 10-month-old son was in a playpen a short distance from her body.
When questioned by police, Scott initially denied knowing Blanco, but when told his DNA was found on the victim he said he had had casual sex with her on several occasions, but denied killing her.
His DNA also was found on the tile, along with the victim's blood, and on a black skull cap left at the scene.
Scott said he met Blanco when he lived in the neighborhood, first with his wife and mother-in-law and then with his grandmother.
The Horn Lake, Miss., native said he was using cocaine, Dilaudid, alcohol and "pretty much anything" at that time and that he began a casual sexual relationship with Blanco, including a final hookup hours before she was found dead.
He said he had consumed two cases of beer over the previous 10 hours before visiting her and that he learned of her death later that day.
"It bothered me a little bit, but that's probably it," Scott said matter-of-factly. "I didn't beat nobody."
State prosecutor Alanda Dwyer then challenged him on what she called his "so what?" answer.
Dwyer: "You insisted on having your own set of (crime-scene) pictures of her dead and naked with you in the jail, didn't you, Mr. Scott?"
Scott: "I've seen beaucoups of other prisoners with crime-scene photos, autopsy and all, right now, Ms. Dwyer."
Dwyer: "You're proud of what you did, aren't you Mr. Scott?"
When he smiled, she added: "Is this funny to you, Mr. Scott?"
During the exchange, the victim's older sister ran from the courtroom in tears and later deputies had to intervene when Scott's wife and a man sitting across the aisle from her got into a shouting match in the hallway.
The man was ordered off the floor and was banned from the courtroom.
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