The edifice that stands as testament to Donald Trump's massive ego and poor business management skills, was the site of 2 fatal carjackings caused by management failure to assure patron safety.
Bright lights, an elegant facade and adornment disguise the criminals attracted to Gambling venues.
The trial is underway for the first victim who had planned to celebrate his daughter's birthday.
Jurors in A.C. kidnap-murder case see video
By George Anastasia
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Thu, Apr. 12, 2012
MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Jurors in the Trump Taj Mahal Casino-Hotel kidnapping-murder case got another look Wednesday at Jessica Kisby when the prosecution played a surveillance video of the admitted murderer shoplifting medical supplies from a Kmart in Pleasantville on May 24, 2010.
On Tuesday, other surveillance footage played for the Atlantic County jury placed her in the casino garage confronting North Jersey grocer Martin Caballero at the time he was carjacked. It later showed her at an Exxon station buying a 5-gallon can of gasoline that authorities say was used to torch Caballero's Lincoln MKS hours after he was killed May 21, 2010.
Next week, the jury will likely see Kisby in person.
The slender, dark-haired 26-year-old is the key prosecution witness in the case against her former boyfriend, Craig Arno.
Together, authorities say, the couple launched a bumbling but brutal eight-day crime rampage that included the kidnapping and murder of Caballero, 47, who had come with family members to the Taj Mahal on May 21 to celebrate the 22d birthday of his daughter.
Arno, 46, faces a life sentence if convicted of the murder charge. He also faces kidnapping, carjacking, arson, and related charges.
Kisby pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping charges on Feb. 14, agreeing to testify in a plea deal that mandates that she receive a 30-year prison sentence with no parole eligibility.
When she takes the stand next week it will be the first time she and Arno have come face to face since she agreed to cooperate. At her plea hearing, she said Arno stabbed Caballero repeatedly before they dumped his body along a dirt farm road in nearby Hamilton Township.
The video from the Kmart offered a different look at their relationship. In it, a man authorities identified as Arno is seen brandishing a knife at two store employees who stopped Kisby as she was trying to leave the store with bandages and ointment she had stuffed into her pockets.
The medication was apparently needed to treat Arno for burns to his hand, face, and neck, injuries he apparently sustained when caught in a blowback after setting Caballero's car on fire.
The car was found in Blackwood, Gloucester Township, in the early hours of May 22, 2010.
Christopher Evans, a loss-prevention agent at the Kmart, identified Arno as the man who tried to slash a store security guard and who warned him and others to "get back" as he waved a knife as he and Kisby fled the store and then drove away in a silver Toyota.
Earlier surveillance from the carjacking showed a silver Toyota following Caballero's Lincoln into the garage and following it out after authorities said Arno had used a pellet gun to abduct Caballero.
When Arno's court-appointed attorney, Eric Shenkus, tried to challenge him on his identification of Arno as the man with the knife, Evans said he identified Arno and Kisby as the couple after spotting their pictures in news reports following their arrests on May 28 in the carjacking case. He said he notified police and then identified them again from photos he was shown.
Kisby is expected to provide a firsthand account of the crimes when she takes the stand.
To date, First Atlantic County Prosecutor James McClain has used video surveillance footage and witness testimony to track the couple from the moment they confronted Caballero in the parking garage to their arrest eight days later at the Golden Key Motel outside Atlantic City.
The couple were hiding out in the motel, authorities say, after a botched attempt to steal a minivan and flee the city May 26.
The trial before Superior Court Judge Michael J. Donio resumes Thursday with an abbreviated session and will resume again Monday, when Kisby may be called.
Donio told the jurors Wednesday that the trial was ahead of schedule and said he believed closing arguments and jury deliberation could begin about April 24. Originally, jurors had been told the trial would last five to six weeks.
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