Missionary costumes part of drug deal gone awry, defense lawyer says

The phony Mormon missionary costumes worn by Robert Estall and Abraham Austin wouldn’t arouse suspicion in neighbors about a drug deal that was about to go down, a defense attorney told Clark County jurors Tuesday.

Their marijuana dealer told them to wear white, collared shirts, black ties, black pants and black dress shoes to look like representatives of the church, lawyer Carl Arnold, who represents Estall, said during opening statements as the trial for the two men began. They also wore backpacks to carry the drug out of the house without being spotted.

They had agreed on “good quality” marijuana “at a very reasonable price,” Arnold said.

But when they arrived at the home near Buffalo and Flamingo roads on the morning of June 27, 2013, they couldn’t agree on the cost of the pot.

“This case is about a drug deal gone bad,” Arnold said.

Prosecutors agreed the two men wore the costumes so they wouldn’t stand out, but said they went to Terence Delucia’s home in June 2013 to rob him because they knew he sometimes sold marijuana and believed he had money stashed at his house. They didn’t want to scare Delucia away from answering the door.

“It’s that good will that these defendants used as a ploy to get into Terence Delucia, Ida Delucia and (daughter) Mary’s house in order to rob them, kidnap them and beat them,” prosecutor Michael Schwartzer said.

Estall and Austin face robbery, kidnapping, burglary, battery and conspiracy charges. Police arrested Estall and Austin after publicly releasing images of the two men taken from security cameras Delucia had installed at his home. After their arrests, detectives learned that both defendants were inactive military members, who once served at Nellis Air Force Base.

Terence Delucia uses “medical grade marijuana” for an illness and sometimes sells small amounts to friends with whom he smokes pot, according to the prosecutor.

“So people are aware, in this community, that not only does he smoke marijuana, but sometimes he has money available because he’s selling that marijuana,” Schwartzer said.

Delucia, who is not facing criminal charges, told authorities that about an ounce of marijuana and $3,000 cash was stolen during the home invasion. Delucia has denied selling the drug, but admitted to buying it.

When the men dressed in their missionary costumes knocked on Delucia’s front door, they told him they wanted to speak with him about Jesus and handed him a pamphlet, according to the prosecutor. Delucia tried to turn them away, but when he went to shut the door, he felt an arm around his neck, “and he knew something was happening,” Schwartzer said.

A year earlier, four men who were never caught broke into Delucia’s home and stole $30,000 and marijuana from him.

That’s why he installed the cameras outside the front door.

“Ida, it’s happening again,” he yelled to his wife.

One of the defendants struck him with a handgun on the right side of his head, causing him to bleed.

Delucia’s wife testified Tuesday that she and her daughter hid inside closets while the robbers asked “Where’s the safe?” and “Where’s the money?”

They led Delucia to the garage, demanded the marijuana, before they forced him facedown on the ground and told him to start counting before they fled.

Austin was arrested at home two months later, just before Estall surrendered to police.

Arnold said various accounts of the incident from the Delucias were inconsistent, and asked the jury to find the defendants not guilty.

“We have four different statements,” Arnold said. “And I’m telling you, we’re going to get four different stories.”

The trial before District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt is expected to last through the end of the week.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow him on Twitter: @randompoker.