Defense witness says someone else killed Trickey

CANTON — For the first time in three trials, defense attorneys in the murder trial of Wayne T. Oxley Jr. were able to present testimony that named a different suspect who could have killed Bernard A. Trickey Jr.

Oxley, Ogdensburg, is accused of beating his neighbor Mr. Trickey to death with a wooden baseball bat in August 2005.

He was convicted of second-degree murder, but an appellate court sent the case back for a retrial. A second trial ended with a hung jury.

Michelle A. Disotell testified Wednesday morning that about a week before the murder, an alleged drug dealer from New York City told her he was going to kill Mr. Trickey.

She said that Robert C. “Chase” Webb was at Mr. Trickey’s home on the night of the murder.

A couple of weeks later, at a gas station, she testified, Mr. Webb said, “I told you I was going to kill him and I did.”

She also said Mr. Webb threatened to kill her children if she testified.

Prosecutors asked Judge Jerome J. Richards not to permit her testimony in front of the jury.

Judge Richards cited the state appeals decision from Oxley’s first trial that he should have allowed the testimony to be presented.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Nicole A. Duvé then inquired about Ms. Disotell’s memory loss and mental health history. Without the jury present, Judge Richards said the witness did go through inpatient treatment in 2005, but he did not make a ruling on whether Ms. Duvé could use it for cross-examination.

Ms. Disotell said she has lied about testimony in previous trials. She is being held at the county jail pending sentencing on welfare fraud charges.

Ms. Disotell asked Tuesday to testify under a different name for fear for her children’s lives, but her request was denied.

Oxley’s attorney, Peter A. Dumas, Malone, has argued a third person is responsible for killing Mr. Trickey.

Ogdensburg City Councilman Daniel E. Skamperle testified that he was in his truck with Oxley in 2005 when he saw Oxley’s neighbor, John D. Shannon, walking out of Oxley’s house on New York Avenue.

Mr. Dumas was providing background information that Mr. Shannon had access to Oxley’s house.

Sandra L. Pike, Mr. Shannon’s cousin, testified that in 2005 Oxley gave a set of house keys to Mr. Shannon so he could look after his home while Oxley was in Florida.

Mr. Shannon died in a fire at his home two weeks after Mr. Trickey’s murder. Investigators ruled that case an arson, but no arrests have been made in the case.

In an attempt to attack Mr. Skamperle’s credibility, Ms. Duvé asked him about an alleged affair with a married woman.

This prompted Judge Richards to stop the questioning and send the jury out of the courtroom.

“Tell me why you shouldn’t be sanctioned,” Judge Richards said.

He described her questioning as insincere and wrong.

“It is an attack to paint him as a scoundrel,” the judge said.

Ms. Duvé said she would be careful and not approach that subject.

Ogdensburg Deputy Mayor Michael D. Morley testified that on the night of the murder he was watching a baseball game about midnight when he heard a loud noise and saw a black man walking down New York Avenue.

Mr. Dumas will continue to call witnesses this morning around a defense strategy that someone else killed Mr. Trickey with a different murder weapon — a gun.