Jury hears of phone call from jail in Florida tourist murders trial

The jury in the trial of Shawn Tyson, a teenager accused of killing two British tourists, heard a recording of a phone call made by Tyson from prison saying police had found bullet casings which could "f*** him up."

In the call Tyson said police had found bullet casings connected to the shooting of Britons James Kouzaris and James Cooper.

The court heard the call made by Tyson from Sarasota County Jail which was recorded by police. In the conversation, the then 16-year-old said:

"Somebody say they saw me ... they say they found the bullets."

Asked about the discovery, he replied:

"It's the only thing that's going to f*** me up."

The jury also heard from Wanda Farrior, the neighbour of Shawn Tyson.Mrs Farrior, who lived opposite Tyson's home at the time of the murders, said on the night of the killings she saw him and said hi as she went out with a friend to get a drink.

When she got back, just after her friend left the house, she heard gunshots.

As she stood by her window, Mrs Farrior said she saw two boys - one of them Shawn Tyson - go back to his house.

"I didn't see him do anything, I just saw him getting into his window."

But she said she was sure it was Tyson she saw getting into the window that night.

Shortly before the end of the day's hearings the jury were shown graphic photographs of the gunshot wounds inflicted on Mr Kouzaris and Mr Cooper.

Tyson is charged with the murders of Britons James Kouzaris, 24, and James Cooper, 25.

The men were gunned down in the impoverished Newtown area of Sarasota, Florida, in April last year.

The friends, who were holidaying with Mr Cooper's family, drunkenly stumbled into a rundown public housing project known as The Courts.

Tyson, 17, denies two counts of first-degree murder. If convicted he faces life in jail without parole.