‘I killed my best friend.’ Mom, nanny testify in trial of Cayce doctor accused in killing
A neighbor and acquaintance of a Cayce doctor accused of killing a salesman testified Tuesday that the doctor said he killed his “best friend.”
Tiffany Beitler, who lived a few homes down from the doctor, said Adam Lazzarini came to her house on the night of the shooting in October 2017. He sat outside her home, folded into himself and rocked.
“I killed my best friend,” he said, according to Beitler’s testimony Tuesday afternoon. He said it “over and over again,” she said.
Later, Beitler’s partner also testified that Lazzarini said he killed his best friend.
Three or four days later, Lazzarini was back at Beitler’s porch. They were “talking through what happened,” Beitler recalled.
Lazzarini was imitating the hand motions of transferring the gun between himself and Holland.
“Maybe I shot him,” Lazzarini said, according to Beitler. “I think I shot him,” he said.
“He seemed confused about the transfer” of the gun, Beitler said.
It was the first time jurors heard a witness say that Lazzarini confessed to shooting Holland. Prior to Tuesday, investigators had testified that Lazzarini initially said Holland had shot himself.
Lazzarini, a former Lexington Medical Center doctor, is accused of involuntary manslaughter. Investigators have testified that he told different stories about what happened the night Holland was killed in the doctor’s home.
Defense attorney Jack Swerling seized on Beitler’s comment about Lazzarini being confused. He pushed Beitler to reiterate that Lazzarini seemed unsure about what happened in the shooting. Lazzarini was distraught, horrified and crying when he talked about the gun transferring hands, Beitler said.
Lazzarini’s defense has been building a case that Lazzarini was confused about what happened and that’s why his story changed about the shooting.
Chris Cunningham, Beitler’s “significant other” who lived with her, said Lazzarini was distraught when he saw him immediately after the shooting.
Cunningham, a firefighter, came into Lazzarini’s house only moments after the shooting. Lazzarini’s wife had gone to Cunningham’s house and said someone was shot. Cunningham found Lazzarini on the ground “in shock” in the bedroom where Holland was shot. Cunningham led the first police officers to the upstairs room.
Prosecutors Shawn Graham and Luke Pincelli of the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office are trying the case. Along with Swerling, attorneys Greg Harris and Alissa Wilson are defending Lazzarini. Judge Debra McCaslin is presiding.
Nanny testifies
The longest and most rigorous testimony came when a prosecutor and defense attorney questioned the Lazzarinis’ nanny.
In one of the most revealing moments, the nanny, 19-year-old Savannah Beitler, daughter of Tiffany Beitler, revealed that Lazzarini’s 5-year-old daughter said that “he put the gun to his chest. There was a loud noise. And there was fire.”
Months later, the daughter spoke with a forensic child interviewer and said her father held the gun when it went off and that she was in the room when Holland was shot.
The prosecutors said in opening statements that Lazzarini was criminally negligent in the shooting. Lazzarini’s attorneys are pushing that the shooting was a tragic accident and there’s reasonable doubt of the involuntary manslaughter charge.
Savannah Beitler, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, recalled the events of that night.
Lazzarini’s wife, Vanessa Biery, came “screaming” into Beitler’s house, where she lived with her mother and Cunningham. Someone was shot at their house, Biery told Savannah Beitler.
Savannah Beitler went to the Lazzarini’s home, where she picked up their daughter outside. Savannah Beitler quickly walked back to her home and brought the daughter to a bedroom. Savannah Beitler asked what happened.
That’s when the daughter said she saw the shooting, Savannah Beitler testified.
Savannah Beitler had been the Lazzarinis’ nanny for about a year in Oct. 2017. She was working for them seven days a week at one time and would stay at their house at times.
Savannah Beitler later told Lazzarini that his daughter had seen the shooting, she testified.
“He acted stern,” she said.
Swerling, Lazzarini’s attorney, questioned Savannah Beitler about her memory of the events.
She admitted having an extensive history of marijuana use and other drug use. She also was interrogated by Swerling on her history of mental illness.
Her drug use and mental illness were “serious,” Beitler said.
”The bottom line is you don’t remember a lot of what happened and that’s because of your drug use” and mental illness, Swerling asked. Beitler responded, “Yes.”
Beitler said she is sober now and taking medication for her illness. She’s a new mother and newly married, she said.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 4:22 PM.