Witness says Rossie murder scene had dish soap strewn around blood spots

Nov. 4—Editor's note: This story contains descriptions of crime scene evidence that may be disturbing to readers.

CANTON — In the Adam W. Smith double murder trial on Monday, one of the St. Lawrence County sheriff's deputies who first responded to the William M. "Bill" Freeman murder scene talked about what he first saw. Also, a hardware store clerk testified to selling the knife allegedly used to kill Ronald E. "Huck" Durham to Smith about five weeks before the murder.

Meanwhile, a state police investigator concluded his testimony after four days. Investigator Daniel Haley was a key prosecution witness who found the knife in Smith's truck several weeks after Durham was killed.

Smith, 48, is charged in a 14-count indictment with murdering 72-year-old Durham on Feb. 11, 2023, in East Riverside Cemetery, Gouverneur, and 67-year-old Freeman 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.

County sheriff's deputy Sgt. Ryan Bogardus took the witness stand for the prosecution and said he and another deputy were the first two on the scene of Freeman's death.

Bogardus said Freeman's brother Michael Freeman and James Mandigo found the body and reported it to 911.

Bogardus said they worked their way through Freeman's trailer and found him "deceased, slumped over the tub about half in half out of the tub. There was a lot of blood in the bathroom."

"We got into the kitchen area, there was a lot of blood at the table, by the window, as well as by the sink area," he told the jury.

Bogardus also said there was a slimy substance of some kind on the floor near and around the blood spots that later turned out to be dish soap.

"There was some in the living room on the carpet ... there was some in the kitchen," he said.

Under cross examination, Barrett showed Bogardus a photo of Freeman's door that showed some sort of damage around the jamb.

"Is that consistent with somebody breaking into the door?" Barrett asked.

"It appears consistent with forced. I can't tell you what happened," Bogardus said, adding that detectives took over the investigation and he went outside to maintain scene security.

Bogardus said he and the other responding deputy noticed Freeman's truck was gone.

"[Michael] Freeman told me it was gone and ... it was likely stolen" because the late Freeman wouldn't have let anyone else use it, Bogardus said. He later added that he didn't see any blood outside but did notice footprints that he was careful to leave intact.

The next and final witness for Monday was Patricia Woods, the store manager at Small Town Supply in Gouverneur. She told jurors she sold Smith a 10-inch black Gerber fixed-blade knife with one edge serrated to Smith on Jan. 7, 2023. She said she saw him "just testing it, seeing how it felt and everything" prior to making the purchase with a credit card.

When shown the knife police have identified as the murder weapon, she said that was the knife Smith bought from the store.

Earlier in the day, state police Investigator Michael Manor testified to his role in the Durham homicide investigation.

Part of his testimony included revealing when police think Durham's cellphone was placed on the West Main Street bridge in downtown Gouverneur. An earlier witness, Melissa Rider of Oswegatchie, told jurors she found the phone lying on the bridge guard rail on Feb. 16, 2023. She said she doesn't know how it got there. No trial witnesses so far have been able to answer that.

Manor said state police investigators were able to figure out a date and time, although he didn't go into details about how they arrived at that conclusion.

"Our opinion is that it was placed on the bridge the morning of Feb. 11, 2023, at approximately 4:42 a.m.," he said.

"Are you aware if Mr. Smith's truck traveled over the bridge at 4:42 a.m.?" Pasqua asked.

"There is a vehicle that is consistent with Mr. Smith's truck crossing the bridge at that time," caught on surveillance video police obtained from nearby Small Town Supply, Manor said.

Manor additionally told jurors he questioned Eric Fisher, the last person seen with Durham before he was killed, and Fisher voluntarily gave investigators a DNA sample. A pre-trial court ruling from Judge Gregory P. Storie says Fisher has been cleared as having any potential third-party culpability in Durham's murder.

Manor also told jurors he was involved in the initial investigation of Frederick A. "Freddy" Wing Jr., a close friend of Durham's who was initially arrested for the murder and jailed. The forensic investigator said Wing "made admissions" during questioning by other state police investigators, which led to him being charged.

Manor said he added to that investigation by looking for evidence to back Wing's admissions, but found none.

"Was that surprising?" Pasqua asked.

"I was surprised," Manor said.

Pasqua then asked Manor to describe Wing, now 24.

"He's of lower intelligence. I wouldn't describe him as someone who is average to somebody in his age group," Manor said.

Wing is diagnosed as being intellectually disabled. He has issues with memory, information processing, and cognition.

"Why then following his Feb. 11 arrest did you and state police proceed with Mr. Wing as a suspect?" Pasqua asked.

"We wanted to corroborate his account. He knew the mechanism of injury. He knew the location of injuries," Manor said.

The day started with Haley, another state police investigator, concluding his testimony for the prosecution in a fourth day on the witness stand. He was first sworn in on Wednesday afternoon and was the only witness to testify until just after 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Under cross examination by Barrett on Monday morning, Haley said that the knife used to kill Durham was serrated on one end. He said during Durham's autopsy, forensic pathologist Dr. Scott LaPointe noted cuts on his chin were consistent with a serrated blade. He said he wasn't sure if LaPointe actually compared the serrated marks to the chin wounds.

Back under direct examination by Pasqua, the DA started a line of questioning to refute Barrett's attempts to create reasonable doubt during cross examination. Haley testified in response to Pasqua's questions by noting that Durham's autopsy happened nearly a month before investigators recovered the murder weapon, so there was no basis to make a comparison at that time.

Part of Barrett's earlier questioning was to challenge the traffic stop on Feb. 12, 2023, in Cortland that led to Smith's truck being impounded for having a suspended registration and license. Barrett earlier asked Haley, while showing him a picture of the registration sticker on Smith's truck window, if it appeared the registration was legitimate and Haley said yes.

"Does the DMV come and scrape your registration sticker off the car or truck" when it's suspended, Pasqua asked Monday. "No sir," Haley answered, later adding he believes Smith's registration was suspended due to what "I believe it was an insurance issue."

While questioning Haley about the blood evidence the investigator found inside Durham's truck, Barrett tried to draw the jury's attention to there not having been large amounts of blood inside the vehicle. The defense attorney also tried to raise the possibility that Durham was killed elsewhere and dumped in East Riverside Cemetery. Displaying a photo of Durham in the cemetery dead on the ground next to his truck in a large pool of blood, Pasqua asked Haley, "he could have been cut outside the truck when Mr. Durham was on the ground?" He answered, "Yes."

Part of the evidence against Smith is that the tires on his truck were matched with tire impressions left at the Durham murder scene. Haley said while being questioned by Barrett that he was not an expert in tire tracks and also said he didn't do research into how many of those same tires may be on the road today.

"Was there anything affecting your vision on March 9 when you took that photo?" Pasqua later asked, and Haley answered, "no sir."

"And that knife was not in someone else's truck with those same tires on them?" Pasqua asked, and Haley answered "correct sir." He was then dismissed from the stand.

Prior to stepping down, Haley said, "I'd just like to correct one thing for the record."

"I cannot let you speak without answering a question," Judge Gregory P. Storie said. "You may step down." Haley then left the courtroom.

The trial resumes Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. with more prosecution witnesses.