Another conviction in UI murder
MOSCOW, Idaho – The brother of two Seattle men convicted in the shooting death of University of Idaho football player Eric McMillan has been found guilty on two counts of perjury.
Former UI student Aaron Wells, 23, was on trial for lying under oath during a grand jury investigation into the Sept. 19, 2004, death of McMillan. Prosecutors said Wells lied about the whereabouts of his brothers on the day of the shooting and his cell phone usage.
He could serve 15 years in prison. Sentencing is May 15 by Second District Court Judge John Stegner, according to the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Wells’ brothers, James Wells, 25, and Matthew Wells II, 27, pleaded guilty in September to second-degree murder in the killing of 19-year-old McMillan, a Vandals cornerback from Murrieta, Calif.
At their trial, the brothers said they were looking for football players to confront because Aaron Wells and his friend, Thomas Riggins, had been involved in a fight with some team members at a nightclub in Moscow.
The brothers forced their way into McMillan’s off-campus apartment after seeing him on the street wearing his football jersey. McMillan was shot twice with two different weapons.
James and Matthew Wells are now serving 20-year sentences.
Attorneys for Aaron Wells said that he had nothing to do with the murder and knew nothing about it.
Wells told a grand jury that he didn’t know his brothers had cell phones or that they were even in town, but prosecuting attorney Robert Schwarz said 27 calls between Wells and his brothers’ cell phones prove otherwise.
Aaron Wells “lied about important and relevant information, and he knew exactly what he was doing,” Schwarz said.
An attorney for Aaron Wells said the client believed the calls were made from Riggins’ phone.
Schwarz said other evidence proves that Wells lied.
Neighbor Nichole Brown said she saw a white BMW – like the one driven by James and Matthew Wells – outside Aaron Wells’ girlfriend’s house in Pullman on the day of the murder.
Also, Aaron Wells’ girlfriend admitted seeing Aaron Wells with his brothers at her house that day, and both James and Matthew Wells testified they spoke with and saw their brother.
“The importance of coming to court and telling the truth cannot be overstated,” Schwarz said. “The only way the system works is if people tell the truth. (Aaron Wells) told a lie that impeded a murder investigation.”