A Detroiter who admitted drawing his cousin into a murder-for-hire plan to kill Oakland County jeweler Daniel Hutchinson and then made a deal with prosecutors to have most charges against him dismissed took the stand Monday in the trial of the accused gunman and the attorney accused of hatching the scheme.
In the trial’s fifth day of testimony in Oakland County Circuit Court, Darnell Larry recounted for the jury his history with the attorney, Marco Bisbikis — a man who he said gave him a job several years ago when he was a homeless squatter in Detroit — and said the two eventually developed what he thought was a close relationship built on mutual loyalty.
Then, in 2022, that relationship took on a nefarious flavor when, Darnell Larry said, he was brought into the plan to kill Daniel Hutchinson and his wife, Marisa. He said he first heard of the scheme from another man who worked for Bisbikis, Angelo Raptoplous, who fed him a tall tale — which he initially believed — about a federal case involving the Hutchinsons. He said he was told the Hutchinsons were to testify against Bisbikis and some of his clients who were in the Mafia. And, Darnell Larry said, Raptoplous told him the Hutchinsons had to be stopped.
Prosecutors claim the hit on the Hutchinsons was because of a trust and will Bisbikis had drafted for the couple in which he stood to benefit financially when they died.
Bisbikis and Roy Larry face multiple charges including first-degree murder. Darnell Larry and Raptoplous pleaded guilty to a charge of solicitation to commit murder in exchange for truthful testimony, with the other charges expected to be dropped. Raptoplous testified last week.
Daniel Hutchinson, owner of Hutch’s Jewelry Store in Oak Park, died June 1, 2022 after he was shot multiple times while sitting in his Yukon Denali with his wife. Marisa Hutchinson was not hit by the gunfire.
On trial with Bisbikis, Roy Larry is Darnell Larry’s cousin and the alleged gunman. According to Darnell Larry, Roy Larry volunteered to kill the Hutchinsons in exchange for a 2014 Camaro.
Mounting pressure
Darnell Larry said at first he hadn’t doubted “one word” from Bisbikis about the reason for the Hutchinsons to be killed.
“I would sacrifice my life for him if he was in any harm’s way,” he said.
But as the pressure mounted, Darnell Larry said he was told both his life and the lives of his family members were in jeopardy if he didn’t follow through. He wanted out, but felt trapped.
And he had also begun questioning the murder plan and why it supposedly had to happen, Darnell Larry said. After a couple missed opportunities in April to carry out the shootings, Bisbikis stopped speaking and messaging with him for a few weeks, Darnell Larry said.
“I felt betrayed,” he said adding that he had considered Bisbikis family — and now he had cut off communication.
Then in early May, Darnell Larry said, Bisbikis responded to a text from him and said everything was OK, once again expressing his love, calling him “brother” and saying they needed to get together soon to “catch up.” About four weeks later — two days before the slayings — Bisbikis told him the Hutchinsons would be at his office on June 1, and that he had the order to kill, Darnell Larry testified.
“He said it has to happen (then) — that we cannot mess this up, it has to happen,” Darnell Larry testified.
And along with the “when,” Bisbikis gave him the “how,” Darnell Larry said: He was to run the Hutchinsons off the road and then gun them down. And Raptoplous supplied him with a 40 caliber handgun to shoot them, he said.
Darnell Larry also admitted that he was driving Roy Larry to Bisbikis’ office on June 1 as planned when they spotted the Hutchinsons’ car on the road, headed in the opposite direction. So they did the same.
A short time later they saw the Hutchinsons’ car parked in a grassy lot next to their recently-purchased pawn shop. Roy Larry got dropped off about a block away with Darnell Larry’s electric bike. Darnell Larry said he sat in his car and about 10 minutes and then heard several gunshots.
He said his “emotions were all over the place” and that he “was scared,” assuming Roy Larry had done what he had been brought there to do.
Testifying further, he said he then headed home and eventually got a phone call from Raptoplous, who said Bisbikis wanted to speak with him in his office. Raptoplous picked him up and took him there.
“Marco was pissed — irritated — like, ‘what happened? Was you there, did you see it? What happened?’ That’s when I found out Marisa was not dead.
“He was definitely angry about it. They was supposed to be killed together,” Darnell Larry said.
Later, Darnell Larry said, he was told to eliminate all social media posts tying him to Roy Larry, and was also tasked with handing cash over to an attorney Bisbikis had hired to represent Roy Larry at the time.
As the weeks went on, Darnell Larry said, he was pressured to find someone to kill Marisa Hutchinson. At one point, he posed for a photo with $14,000 in cash and was supposed to use it to recruit another murderer. He said he never followed through with that.
‘I’m here to make a wrong right’
On cross examination, Roy Larry’s attorney Mitch Ribitwer brought Darnell Larry’s credibility into question, noting that he has a criminal background — including a conviction for second-degree murder for which Darnell Larry maintains his innocence. Ribitwer also noted Darnell Larry repeatedly lied to police following his arrest in late August in connection with the Hutchinson case. Defense attorney James Thomas — who represents Bisbikis — continued an aggressive line of questioning, asking if Darnell Larry was coached by the prosecution on his testimony. And suggesting his motivation for testifying was to save himself from a life sentence.
Darnell Larry responded with unequivocal claims that he was just stating what happened — and was told to simply tell the truth.
“I’m here to make a wrong right. I’m here to tell the truth,” Darnell Larry said. “I did something wrong on behalf of your client, Marco Bisbikis. That’s why I’m here today…this man is dead because of your client.”
Testimony resumes Tuesday morning.