No jurors seated on first day of selection for St. Lawrence County double murder trial
Oct. 15—CANTON — No jurors were seated Tuesday in the trial of Adam Smith, who is accused of murdering two St. Lawrence County men in February and March 2023.
The county summoned 350 potential jurors for Tuesday morning. If 12 jurors and two alternates aren't selected by Friday, another 350 will be summoned for Monday morning.
Smith, 48, is charged in a 14-count indictment with murdering 72-year-old Ronald E. "Huck" Durham on Feb. 11, 2023, in Gouverneur, and 67-year-old William M. Freeman on March 1, 2023, in Rossie.
Smith has lived in both the Gouverneur and Lake Placid areas. He is currently incarcerated at the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility in Canton. His attorney is Brian Barrett of Lake Placid.
Jury selection resumes this morning in St. Lawrence County Court.
Stemming from the murder of Durham, Smith is indicted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree robbery and first-degree assault. In the murder of Freeman, Smith is indicted on first-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree burglary, first-degree assault, third-degree grand larceny and four counts of fourth-degree grand larceny. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the counts.
He faces up to life in state prison if convicted of murder.
In the Durham case, Smith is accused of intentionally killing him while robbing him in East Riverside Cemetery in Gouverneur. St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua declined to say what Smith may have stolen or attempted to steal. Durham died of a single stab wound to the neck, police have said previously.
In the Freeman case, Smith is accused of intentionally killing him while committing a home invasion burglary. During a May 11, 2023, court proceeding, Pasqua said the burglary happened in the middle of the afternoon. Police have said Freeman was stabbed multiple times at his home on County Route 10 in Rossie. Freeman's brother, Michael J. Freeman, and friend Julie A. Holt, spoke with the Times in 2023 and recalled him as friendly and empathetic. Go to to read that earlier story.
The third-degree grand larceny charge stemming from Freeman's death is for theft of property valued at more than $3,000. The grand larceny counts are for stealing firearms, a credit card and debit card, the indictment says. Smith also allegedly stole Freeman's truck, which he was driving at the time of his arrest the following day.
Announcing Smith's arrest on March 7, 2023, then-Sheriff Brooks J. Bigwarfe told reporters that there is "some association" between Durham, Freeman and Smith. He declined to comment further.
Smith has been incarcerated at the St. Lawrence County Correctional jail since March 2, 2023. Earlier that day, he was arrested driving Freeman's stolen 2018 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. He was apprehended near the Bradley Street exit on Interstate 81 heading north near Watertown. Police charged him with felony fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and booked him into jail.
At the time Smith was accused of killing Durham and Freeman, he was on probationary supervision following a conviction for attempted burglary.
Prior to Smith's arrest, state police in Gouverneur wrongfully charged Gouverneur resident Frederick A. Wing Jr., then 23, with Durham's murder just hours after he was killed. Wing was arraigned that day and remanded to the county jail without bail. While he was incarcerated, Freeman was murdered, and Wing was released from jail the following day. Wing's wrongful murder charge was dropped in May 2023.
