A former Waianae High School counselor testified Wednesday that some of the teenagers accused of murdering Army pilot John Latchum were drinking at his house just two hours before prosecutors claim that they shot the pilot.

Terrance Hallums said that he allowed the underaged teenagers to drink at his home and even saw the gun that prosecutors claim was used to kill Latchum at the Waianae Army Recreation Center on June 3, 1998.

"They showed me the gun," Hallums said on the witness stand. "It changed hands several times."

Hallums said that among the teens who were drinking beer at his home that night were defendants Bryson Jose and Roberto Miguel.

According to Hallums, "Nobody was getting crazy or nothing. No signs of being violent. They were talking real good to me, with respect."

Prosecutors claimed that Jose and Miguel tried to break into Latchum's cabin at the recreation center and shot him about 90 minutes after leaving Hallums' house.

Hallums, now a disc jockey at radio station I-94, avoided reporters as he left the courthouse. Hallums said Tuesday that he suffered for months after the shooting wondering if he could have prevented it.

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