Judge Postpones Murder Inc Trial After Surprise Fed Witness

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The Murder Inc defendants will wait yet another day to stand trial in federal court on charges of money laundering after the prosecution presented a surprise witness today -- a former employee who claims he "handled cash transactions" for Murder Inc. Donnell Nichols would have been the first witness to testify at the Brooklyn Federal courthouse tomorrow. However, upon learning of the witness, the defense filed a motion to delay the trial while they investigate his background.

Attorneys for Irv and Chris Lorenzo, Gerald Lefcourt and Gerald Shargel, asked Judge Edward Korman to give them more time to investigate Nichols. The judge postponed the trial until Wednesday -- it is expected that Nichols will take the stand on Thursday. Nichols was employed at Murder Inc approximately 5 years ago. Chris Lorenzo gave him a job after having found him homeless. Sources close to the label say Nichols had a reputation for "fabricating stories" about having a high-profile position at the company and was allegedly fired by Chris for telling people he "owned" the label. Nichols apparently came forward having learned of the investigation and volunteered his testimony to become the "star witness" for the feds.

Despite their new witness, the prosecution did suffer a set back yesterday when Judge Korman ruled that they would not be able to mention the shooting of 50. Some have speculated that Supreme ordered 50's killing after the rapper pulled his card on "Ghetto Quran." Lefcourt and Shargel stressed that mentioning the shooting during opening statements would stain their clients with a crime they weren't involved in. Judge Korman apparently agreed and denied the prosecution's request, but said the shooting could be discussed through witness testimony. Prosecutors claim the Lorenzo brothers talked about 50's shooting with Supreme and believe they received "street protection" from the drug lord.