Brother says murder victim wouldn't have loaned truck to alleged killer caught driving it
Nov. 7—CANTON — The brother of one of Adam W. Smith's two alleged victims testified in Smith's double murder trial on Thursday, telling jurors that William M. Freeman would not have let anyone else drive his truck. The defense in their opening statement contended that Smith had borrowed Freeman's truck when he was arrested while driving it, which led to him being charged with murder.
The prosecution and defense also sparred over entering a piece of video evidence that showed Smith's truck around the time of the Durham murder. A state police video expert had enhanced the tape and created blown-up still images from the footage.
Smith, 48, is accused in a 14-count indictment of killing 72-year-old Ronald E. "Huck" Durham on Feb. 11, 2023, in East Riverside Cemetery, Gouverneur. It also charges him with killing 67-year-old Freeman, Willy or Bill to those close to him, in Freeman's Rossie home on March 1, 2023.
Smith is represented by attorney Brian P. Barrett of Lake Placid. The prosecutors are District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua and assistant district attorneys Alexander Nichols, Sasha Mascarenhas and Matthew Peabody.
Michael Freeman, who is William Freeman's brother, took the witness stand Thursday morning and talked about finding his brother dead. A mutual friend of the Freeman brothers, James Mandigo, testified Wednesday about having been with Michael Freeman when they found his brother.
While Michael Freeman was on the witness stand, his testimony involved police photos of the entrance to his brother's trailer. The trailer was set up with the main entrance facing toward the rear, with an outside door to a vestibule leading to a second door that went into the actual home.
The photos showed damage to the outside door, which appeared to have been kicked in. The latch was separated and on the floor. Freeman said the door was in that condition on March 2, 2023, but he'd never seen it like that when he had visited his brother prior to that date. Under cross examination, Freeman said his brother "never locked his doors."
"Did Willy have any enemies?" Barrett later asked. "Absolutely not," Freeman answered.
Back under questioning by Pasqua, the DA showed Freeman a closeup photo of the doorknob on the inside of the trailer with a red splotch on it that appeared to be dried blood.
"Did that doorhandle have that red substance that looks like blood on it the last time you were at the trailer?" Pasqua asked. "Not that I remember," Freeman answered.
Earlier in the day, Jason Cooper from the state police forensic video multimedia services unit testified while the prosecution showed a surveillance video of Smith's truck in Gouverneur back around the time Durham was killed. Cooper is a civilian state police employee whose specialty includes enhancing video evidence and isolating still frames from those tapes that investigators may ask for.
The video was caught on surveillance cameras in front of Small Town Supply facing the West Main Street bridge in downtown Gouverneur. The enhanced video showed a truck that appeared to be Smith's maroon 2016 Ford F-150 crossing the bridge westbound around 4:42 a.m. on Feb. 11, 2023. Pasqua showed the jury three still images that had been blown up from the surveillance video that showed the truck up close.
Prior to the video and images being entered as evidence, Barrett asked if the attorneys could approach the judge. They spoke in hushed tones for about five minutes. Judge Gregory P. Storie then called a recess. Neither attorney would comment on what was happening.
After about 15 minutes, the judge returned and the attorneys approached the bench again but this time they spoke in more audible tones.
Much of their conversation was inaudible. However, Pasqua could be heard saying, "he had it for months. If he wanted to send the video out ... he had it weeks ago." Barrett could then be heard saying, "I have reviewed the Small Town Supply video ad nauseam ... I should be able to send this to an expert."
After more inaudible talk, the lawyers went back to their respective tables. Storie allowed the video to be entered as evidence, with Barrett objecting to its foundation and chain of custody.
Later in the day, Shawn McCargar from the county sheriff's department took the witness stand and talked about interviewing Smith on the night of March 2, 2023, after he'd been arrested driving Freeman's truck on I-81 in Watertown, headed north. McCargar was a detective sergeant at the time and is now undersheriff.
He said police were able to track Freeman's 2018 Chevy Silverado 2500 through its On Star system. After Smith was taken into custody and brought back to Canton, detectives interviewed him. However, the camera in the interview room didn't record the video or audio. He said they didn't know why at the time, but IT workers later figured out it was because the hard drive was full.
McCargar told the jurors that Smith said to sheriff's detectives that on March 1, the day Freeman was killed, he walked to Freeman's home around 12:30 or 1 p.m.
"He said he was going to borrow his truck because his truck had gotten impounded down in Cortland," McCargar said. Later, he said Smith told him he first met Freeman sometime in the summer of 2022. Earlier in the day, Michael Freeman told jurors that his brother told him he met Smith in February of 2023.
McCargar said Smith during his interview "said Mr. Freeman asked if he could use his cellphone to get the PIN number changed on his debit card. He said Mr. Freeman had met a girl ... and his cellphone was in his vehicle and his home phone was not working."
Two earlier witnesses, employees at Upstate National Bank who knew Freeman well, testified that someone using Smith's cell phone called the bank shortly after 1 p.m. that day. The person claimed to be Freeman and tried to change his PIN number, but they said it was definitely not Freeman on the phone and the bank manager froze Freeman's accounts.
McCargar told the jury that Smith talked about having stopped at the Circle K in Star Lake later in the day on March 1, 2023. He said Smith told investigators that he had tried to buy coffee at the quick stop with two of his credit cards but they were denied. Records entered as evidence showed Smith actually used two of Freeman's credit cards, both of which had actually been rejected at the gas pump, and then used his cell phone to call the customer service number on each one.
Later during the interview, McCargar said another detective "did advise (Smith) that Mr. Freeman was no longer with us, meaning deceased."
"[Smith] asked if he had been in an accident ... motor vehicle, car accident," he said.
"He said he'd been going through some hard times. His uncle had been murdered in a cemetery in Gouverneur and his vehicle was impounded down in Cortland because his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend didn't pay the insurance," the undersheriff said.
Pasqua showed jurors a photo of a small safe that belonged to Freeman that detectives found in his truck at the time they arrested Smith. McCargar verified the photos, noting that the safe was full of Freeman's personal documents, some of which had blood on them, and there was also blood smeared inside the safe.
"I believe it was already unlocked" when investigators searched it, McCargar said.
During cross-examination, Barrett showed McCargar photos of Smith and closeups of Smith's hands that county sheriff's detectives took. However, rather than being printed in higher resolution on thick glossy photo paper, they appeared to be printed with a computer printer on standard printer paper. Those images came overbright with the color washed out. It was difficult from the gallery to see what they showed, even while projected on a screen.
"Do you see any blood or bruises?" Barrett asked McCargar while showing one of the photos that was a closeup of Smith's hands. "Not that I can see," McCargar answered.
Barrett also brought up the A/V equipment that didn't record the Smith interview. McCargar said it was the first time it had happened he knew of, and there were a few subsequent incidents where other interview videos had gotten lost before the problem got solved.
"[The hard drive] had been storing videos for years, so they had to go through and delete videos from years ago to make more space," the undersheriff said.
The trial continues Friday at 9:30 a.m. with more testimony for the prosecution.
