Investigators from the Albany County district attorney’s office wheeled a heavy sack filled with evidence into the Orange County Courthouse on Thursday morning, July 6, where the murder trial of Christopher Porco is being held.
Part of the evidence was an ax used to kill Peter Porco and injure his wife, Joan.
Investigator Drew McDonald of State Police Troop G in Loudonville continued a second day of testimony on evidence gathered at 36 Brockley Drive in Delmar Nov. 15, 2004, including the murder weapon, People’s Exhibit 274, a 3-foot ax.
`Yes, this is the ax depicted in this photograph which was located in the master bedroom,` McDonald said to Assistant District Attorney and Chief Prosecutor Michael McDermott.
`There are heavy bloodstains on the head of the ax, but not on the bottom of the ax,` McDonald said. The murder weapon was dusted for fingerprints with blood swabs taken to a state police lab for testing.
`Are you familiar investigator with a fireman’s ax, and how does it differ?` asked McDermott.
`A fireman’s ax is generally bigger,` McDonald said, `and used for cutting buildings, not trimming tree branches. This is something we use to trim trees and not quite a wood-splitting ax.`
McDonald told jurors the crime occurred inside the master bedroom on Joan Porco’s side of the bed, where the perpetrator swung a 3-foot ax anywhere from 10 to 30 times before dropping it on the bed and fleeing.
`I believe the attack happened while the two people were in their bed, and they spent some time lying there with their injuries in their bed,` he said.
`Did you try to find if the perpetrator in this crime was cut or bleeding?` asked McDermott. McDonald said no blood from any other source was found.
Under cross examination from Defense Attorney Terence Kindlon, McDonald was asked who took the lead in the crime scene investigation, state police, or the Bethlehem police department.
`The Bethlehem police department was lead agency at the crime scene, and they call the shots as to how this investigation proceeds,` said McDonald.
McDonald told Kindlon and the jury that both state police and Bethlehem police were gathering evidence at the scene at different times in the days following the crime. Kindlon told the jury several people, including EMS personnel, police and others all walked in and around the crime scene before evidence was gathered. The defense believes Bethlehem police have very little experience in handling homicide cases since very few homicides ever occur in the town.
`Who was in charge of the investigation?` asked Kindlon.
`The detective I dealt with was Christopher Bowdish,` McDonald said.
`He is the person most extensively trained in the police department.`
McDermott asked in redirect whether Bowdish has forensic investigative similar to McDonald’s extensive police experience.
`We are both members of the Capital District Forensic Officers Group, and he is the vice president,` said McDonald of Bowdish.
Kindlon asked how many homicides Bowdish had investigated for the Bethlehem police department.
`I don’t know,` McDonald said.
Later in the day, Officer Michael Cotsworth of the City of Rochester police department testified that he found the yellow Jeep Wrangler that Christopher Porco drove on a street outside the dormitories at the University of Rochester on Nov. 15, 2004, after the crimes on Brockley Drive in Delmar occurred.
`I located the vehicle on Genesee Street,` said Cotsworth, who then immediately dispatched word that the vehicle was found.
`I blocked the street off and put crime scene tape around the vehicle,` he said.
Cotsworth said the Jeep was never moved or touched in his presence.
Kindlon attempted to get information to the jury that Cotsworth asked neighbors if they had seen Porco’s Jeep Wrangler that weekend. Celestina Brown, who lives in the neighborhood, told the officer that the Jeep in question had been parked in front of her house for a couple of days. Judge Jeffrey Berry, who is presiding over the trial, would not allow the officer to answer questions regarding his sweep of the neighborhood calling it `classic hearsay.`
`This is not coming in by the manner you want it to come in,` said Berry while the jury was taken out of the courtroom.
`You’re couching it in terms the People haven’t done their job. You can subpoena the witness,` said Berry, referring to the neighbor.
Chad Rice, a Bethlehem police officer, was ordered to drive to Rochester with a local towing company to remove the Jeep Wrangler from the Rochester city street.
`I was advised and told not to touch the Jeep, to just pick it up and bring it to the State Police lab (in Loudonville) for testing,` Rice said.
Kindlon asked Rice if the EZ-Pass inside the Jeep Wrangler went off when the tow truck carrying Porco’s vehicle went through the tollbooths.
`I don’t recall,` said Rice.
Peter Porco’s name is listed as the owner of the Jeep Wrangler.
Prosecutors believe Christopher Porco allegedly drove from the University of Rochester to Delmar late Sunday evening, and attacked his parents in their home before driving back to Rochester early Monday morning, Nov. 15.
Porco is charged with murder and attempted murder.
The trial recessed at the end of the day Thursday, and is scheduled to resume on Monday, July 10.
