As jury selection for 26-year-old Bristol Township murder suspect Ckaron Handy was beginning at the Doylestown courthouse, Kyle Marcel Page was being arraigned on charges he lied to authorities about being a witness to the 2006 killing.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Page, 29, was arraigned on multiple charges of perjury before District Judge Joanne Kline Monday morning. He was sent to Bucks County prison on 10 percent of $25,000 bail.
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Authorities allege that Page lied three times about being an eyewitness to the murder of 30-year-old Bristol Township union machinist Kevin Battista. In all three incidents, Page named Handy as the trigger man in the killing that left two boys without their father.
Court papers say Page lied to a grand jury twice in 2009 and before District Judge Joanne Kline during Handy’s preliminary hearing in 2013.
On October 31, staff at the county jail confirmed for detectives that Page was in prison the night of the December murder and could not have seen Handy pull the trigger.
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In early November, Page spoke with investigators and admitted to being in jail on the night of the murder, court papers say.
Since being interviewed by detectives, Page has written two letters apologizing and attempting to explain why he lied about the case, according to court documents. Both letters were addressed to a Bucks County assistant district attorney involved in the case.
Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
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Battista was with his neighbor when he went into the Bloomsdale-Fleetwing section on the night he was killed. He spotted a group of men at the intersection of Mustang and Aieracobra streets and asked for $60 worth of drugs. Two of the men approached. Handy is then alleged to have pulled a gun and demanded money and shot the 30-year-old, according to court papers.
District Attorney David Heckler said at the time of Handy’s 2012 arrest that Battista, who was described as a recreational drug user, as “a hard-working union member who made a real bad choice on that evening to go into an area where he had not been before.”
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Page is Handy’s first cousin.
A Bucks County prosecutor involved in the case did not return a call seeking comment Monday afternoon.
