911, TV Tapes Tell Different Tales in Killing of Teen-Ager : Murder trial: The Korean store owner told a police operator that the black girl had tried to take money. But the security recording conflicts with that version.

Minutes after his wife shot Latasha Harlins, a Korean store owner told a 911 operator that the black teen-ager had reached into his cash register in an attempt to rob the business, according to a tape of the call played in court Tuesday.

Billy He Du’s account on the recording stands in contrast to the sequence of events shown in a videotape played Monday at the trial of his wife, who is accused of murder.

In the 911 recording, Du is heard saying, “We got a holdup.” Harlins, he said, had been “taking the money out of the cash register.” He later told the operator that his wife shot the “robber lady.”

But in the security camera videotape, Harlins is not seen reaching into the cash register.

On the 911 recording, Du also tells a police officer that his wife, Soon Ja Du, was unhurt after the incident. However, testifying in his wife’s defense Tuesday, he said he thought his wife and the 15-year-old Harlins were both dying when he entered the store seconds after the March 16 shooting in the Empire Liquor Market in South-Central Los Angeles.

His wife, he testified, was slumped over the counter when he rushed inside the store immediately after hearing her call for help, which was followed by a gunshot. She collapsed seconds later, he said.

That testimony, too, is at odds with the videotape, which shows Soon Ja Du shouting frantically and attempting to climb up on the counter in the moments following the shooting.

In the security camera videotape, Harlins and Soon Ja Du, 49, are seen scuffling over a $1.79 bottle of orange juice. Two witnesses testified that Du had accused the girl of trying to steal the juice, even though they said the teen-ager tried to pay for it.

Harlins is seen striking Du in the face at least three times on the tape. After Harlins backs away, Du throws a three-foot high stool at the girl and is seen getting a handgun from beneath a counter.

On the tape, Du shoots Harlins after the teen-ager turns away and apparently tries to leave the store. The girl died of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Du’s lawyer contends that Harlins was the aggressor in the incident, and that the gun fired by accident.

A Los Angeles police firearms expert testified Tuesday that someone had tampered with the .38-caliber revolver so that it took very little pressure to pull the trigger.

In fact, Officer David Butler said, under some circumstances the gun could go off with no trigger pressure at all--but only if the weapon were already cocked.

Other testimony Tuesday touched on Du’s injuries after the shooting. Her defense lawyer contends that Harlins hurt her, but a police officer has testified that he saw Du’s husband slapping her harshly after the shooting.

Billy He Du, a former major in the Korean army, testified Tuesday that he slapped his wife so hard because she appeared to be slipping deep into unconsciousness and he panicked.

Du also sought to explain his report to the 911 operator. He testified through a court interpreter that he thought Harlins was stealing because “the cash register was open and money was all over the place.”