Both sides rest in Smith double murder trial; closing statements Friday morning

Nov. 14—CANTON — After a month of court proceedings that included testimony from dozens of witnesses and more than 500 pieces of evidence, the prosecution and defense rested in the Adam W. Smith double murder trial on Thursday.

The two sides will give closing statements Friday, after which the jury will begin deliberating.

The attorneys concluded their cases after a final prosecution witness said Smith's and William M. Freeman's DNA were on the clothes that Smith was wearing when he was arrested.

Before resting, the defense then called two witnesses, both of whom live across the street from the cemetery where Ronald E. "Huck" Durham was stabbed to death.

Also on Thursday, defense attorney Brian P. Barrett made two separate motions for dismissal of all 14 felony charges against his client, both of which Judge Gregory P. Storie denied.

Smith, 48, is accused in a 14-count indictment of killing and robbing 72-year-old Durham on Feb. 11, 2023, in East Riverside Cemetery, Gouverneur. It also charges him with killing and robbing 67-year-old Freeman in Freeman's Rossie home on March 1, 2023.

The prosecutors are District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua and assistant district attorneys Alexander Nichols, Sasha Mascarenhas, and Matthew Peabody.

The final witness for the prosecution was Elizabeth Walsh, a DNA analyst at the state police crime lab in Albany. She performed DNA tests on swabs and cuttings that had been taken from Smith's clothes and a towel found in Freeman's truck, which Smith was driving when he was arrested.

Freeman was murdered around 1 p.m. on March 1, 2023. Smith was arrested driving Freeman's truck later that night on Interstate 81 northbound near Watertown.

Inside the truck were items prosecutors allege Smith stole after stabbing Freeman to death. They include a lockbox containing Freeman's personal documents that had his blood on the outside and inside, along with a towel and bloody leather work gloves. Police did not find Smith's fingerprints at the Freeman murder scene.

From the witness stand, Walsh said Smith's and Freeman's DNA were on the keys to Freeman's truck and also a sweatshirt found in the truck. Her analysis showed both men's DNA were on the jeans, T-shirt and hat that Smith was wearing when he was arrested. St. Lawrence County sheriff's detectives had collected those items as evidence.

Walsh also testified that Freeman's DNA was on a bloody towel that was found in the truck when Freeman was driving it. She said Freeman's DNA was also on the knife used to kill him that had been left behind at the crime scene, but Smith's was not.

Walsh also said her analysis indicated that both Smith's and Freeman's DNA were on the boots he was wearing when arrested, as well as Durham's DNA.

Following Walsh's testimony, Barrett and Pasqua traded arguments over whether the charges in Smith's indictment should be dropped.

The defense attorney argued "the prosecution has failed to prove a legally sufficient case ... to any charges contained in the indictment."

He went on to argue that there was no evidence presented to prove Durham had been robbed, citing police finding $2,600 in his pants pockets, and that no date, time, or place of Durham's death had been established based on police testimony.

Pasqua countered by saying witnesses indicated Durham was found with no money in his jacket pockets, where witnesses testified he kept cash, and his checkbook and wallet were missing, both of which were later discovered in Smith's truck.

Pasqua also pointed to video and eyewitness testimony that showed Smith, in the hours after Durham was killed, going on a shopping spree that went from Ogdensburg to Cicero where he spent $100 bills that apparently had blood on them.

The DA also argued that Durham was obviously killed in East Riverside Cemetery due to the large amount of blood investigators observed on and around his body.

Pasqua also pointed to the murder weapon being found in Smith's truck, which forensic scientists showed had Durham's blood on the blade and Smith's DNA on the hilt. He noted that analysis of Smith's boots he was wearing when arrested revealed his, Durham's, and Freeman's DNA on them.

Arguing for why the charges related to Freeman should be dismissed, Barrett argued that forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Sikirica had testified that the level of rigor mortis of Freeman's body showed at autopsy indicated a March 2 date of death.

Pasqua countered that Sikirica also testified that the level of rigor mortis "in a vacuum" would indicate that date of death, however, the doctor also testified that refrigeration can prolong rigor mortis. Freeman's body was refrigerated in a morgue for more than a day before Sikirica performed the autopsy.

Barrett also argued that Smith and Freeman had a business relationship. He argued a check dated Jan. 13, 2023, for $600 that Freeman wrote to Smith demonstrates this. He also said Smith had been authorized to drive Freeman's truck to do an unspecified favor for him.

"No evidence was presented that Mr. Smith was not authorized to come into the home of Mr. Freeman. In fact, a burglary ... is wholly unsupported here," Barrett argued. "Reality tells us: If you're going to commit a home invasion ... you'd do that when an individual is not there, especially a retired Marine who is armed."

Pasqua argued that there were signs of burglary at Freeman's home: Forensic investigators took photos that showed the doors to Freeman's trailer had been forced open. One of the doors shattered on the inside and left scraps of wood on the floor. There was also a dislodged door knob on the floor of Freeman's mudroom.

Pasqua argued there was no evidence presented that supported Freeman and Smith having any sort of relationship, and the check had been written as a down payment for painting Smith was supposed to do for Freeman later that summer.

He also noted Smith's admissions to police put him at the scene, and his cellphone data supports that. He also pointed to the clothes Smith was wearing and a towel found in Freeman's truck when he was arrested were "covered in the victim's blood."

"Afterwards, [Smith] is trying to change the victim's debit card PIN number," Pasqua said. "The defendant's cellphone records put him at that location after the victim was killed."

Pasqua also pointed to Smith's attempt to trade in Freeman's truck on the same day Freeman was killed shows he had no intent of returning it. He also highlighted testimony from several witnesses who said Freeman would not have loaned his truck to anyone, including relatives and close friends who he'd known for decades.

"The court finds the people have met their burden ... with regard to each count of the indictment. The defendant's motion is denied in full," Storie ruled.

Barrett later in the day made a second motion to have Smith's indictment dismissed, which Storie ruled against in identical language.

The defense's only two witnesses, Penny Patton and Debbie Rider, took the witness stand Thursday afternoon. They are sisters who share a home on Van Buren Road in Gouverneur, across the street from East Riverside Cemetery.

They both testified to seeing Durham's truck in the cemetery on the day he was murdered. They said they saw him at the cemetery daily, parked near his late wife Sharon's grave. They both were awake around 3:45 a.m. that day, but it was still dark at that hour and difficult to see across the road, according to their testimony.

They both said they didn't see or hear anything, except observing that Durham's truck was parked in the opposite direction he normally would park.

Following the last witnesses, the attorneys went back and forth over proposed language for the deliberation instructions the judge has to read for the jury before they can work toward a verdict.

The trial resumes with closing statements at 9:30 a.m. Friday.