Wayne Newton testifies he fired a shot as burglars assaulted family dog, then fled

District Attorney John Giordani, left, speaks to Wayne Newton in the state of Nevada case against Weslie Martin, accused of burglarizing Newton's home. (Photo: Erik Verduzco, AP)

Longtime Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton told a jury he fired a gunshot to scare away two burglars that he and his wife and daughter encountered fleeing their home a year ago.

The 77-year-old “Danke Shoen” singer testified Tuesday that he shot once into the air with a five-shot revolver he carries with him.

Newton remembered his wife, Kathleen Newton, yelling for him to shoot as one of the fleeing men stopped to pick up a duffel bag he dropped while hitting a family dog with a tire iron.

He said the men disappeared through a hedge toward a wall on his large property in Las Vegas.

Wayne Newton testifies June 18 in the state of Nevada case against Weslie Martin, accused of burglarizing Newton's Las Vegas home. (Photo: Erik Verduzco, AP)

The testimony came during the trial for 22-year-old Weslie Martin, who prosecutors say was one of those burglars, and who later sold Newton valuables to a coin and jewelry store.

Prosecutor Jory Scarborough says Martin also was responsible for a break-in two weeks earlier at the Newton home, and at a neighboring property.

Martin’s public defender, Will Ewing, told jurors that only a vague video security image ties Martin to the second break-in, which the Newtons interrupted when they returned home.

If convicted, Martin faces 11 felonies and sentencing as a habitual criminal.

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