Man accused of lying during Fairview homicide trial now faces felony murder charge
One of the men allegedly involved in the 2019 homicide of Daniel Duque-Soto in Fairview has been charged with lying during his testimony at Lexie Burke's trial.
Dylan Rodriguez was charged by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office on July 24 with perjury, felony murder, accomplice liability to commit armed robbery, hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence.
Duque-Soto was killed in an alleged armed robbery gone wrong on June 29, 2019, and Burke was accused of being the mastermind behind the plot to rob the 23-year-old Fairview man. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge a month into his trial, just days after Rodriguez testified against him.
Rodriguez, who is one of several co-defendants in the case, testified on March 2 of this year, telling the court he had tried to persuade the co-defendants that they shouldn't go back to Duque-Soto's apartment.
During his testimony, Burke's attorney Ronald Hunt accused Rodriguez of lying in order to cut a deal with the prosecution, pointing to the lies in his statements to the police. Rodriguez vehemently denied the accusation and said he was there on the advice of his attorney and hadn't made a deal with the prosecution.
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According to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, Rodriguez is the one who provided the gun to co-defendants Burke, Raul Torres, Juan Burgos and David Martinez.
"Guns and money and violence, they don't mix," Rodriguez had said during his testimony.
Rodriguez told the court Burgos contacted him the day after the killing to ask for Percocet. When the pair met up, Burgos allegedly pulled out a gun and wanted Rodriguez to pay $100 for it. Rodriguez said he traded the Percocet for the gun, because he was afraid of Burgos getting mad at him for refusing, and hid it under the floorboards of his attic after wiping it down.
Police found the gun in his attic the next morning when they raided his home. Rodriguez said he lied in his first statement about his whereabouts and what happened because he thought he could talk himself out of the situation and he was trying to protect those involved.
During his testimony, Rodriguez told Assistant Prosecutor Matt Fitzpatrick he changed his mind when the police began asking about the gun and he knew that lying would put him in a deeper hole. He said he still didn't provide police with any names or come clean about his previous lies.
He gave a second statement a year and a half later, providing police with more details and names. He said he spoke with his lawyer and that it was in his best interest to tell the truth.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Fairview NJ homicide case adds felony murder, perjury charges
