GALENA, Ill. - A detective with the Waterloo Police Department testified that Bruce Burt told authorities a drug dealer had threatened him two or three weeks before Donnisha Hill's death.

Burt, 59, of Waterloo, is a key witness in the prosecution's murder case against David Andrew Damm.

Damm, 60, is accused of hiring Burt to kill Hill, 13, Oct. 27, 2006, to cover up sexual abuse allegations. Burt has admitted to the slaying.

Damm's trial rounded out its second week Friday, and defense attorneys called their first witnesses Monday morning.

So far the defense has called Waterloo police who interviewed Damm and others and Jo Daviess County sheriff's deputies who responded to the area where Hill's body was found Oct. 28, 2006.

Sgt. Mark Meyer with the Waterloo Police Department said he had prior dealings with Burt including an earlier matter where Burt, an admitted crack cocaine user and distributor, said he was being threatened by a dealer.

Meyer said Burt had owed the dealer money over drugs that were fronted to him. The officer said Burt didn't tell him the dealer had threatened him with a gun, which was testimony the defense has tried unsuccessfully to get in under other witnesses.

Meyer said he paid off Burt's drug debt - described as several hundred dollars - in order to further the investigation into the other dealer's activities. He said the debt was paid before Hill's disappearance.

Defense attorneys had earlier said the dealer called Burt while he was driving Hill to Illinois to kill her.

Meyer also interviewed Burt for several hours after Hill's disappearance, and defense attorneys asked what information he passed on to Burt during the talks.

"Did you try to get him to say that David Damm was involved in this?" asked attorney Allan Sincox.

"Sure," Meyer said. He said Burt denied any involvement in slaying during the first interviews.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.