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Day 5 of Exford Trial Hears from Witnesses That Had
Interactions with Exford Night of Fatal Fire
Published: March 11, 2022 at
08:00 p.m.
By: Nick
Altmire
Witness Laurie Buckingham, a bartender at Baker’s Bar
and Grill, points out Shawn Exford to jurors on Friday in surveillance
footage captured from the bar in the early morning hours of December 1,
2019.
Lowville, NY- The Shawn
L. Exford murder and arson trial entered day 5 on Friday, with the jury
hearing from five different witnesses that had encounters with Mr. Exford
the night of the fatal fire at 7525 South State Street in Lowville on
November 30, 2019 that claimed the lives of Catherine Crego and Saratina Kilbourne.
The trial resumed
just after 9 o’clock this morning, with the first witness of the day taking
the stand at 9:10 a.m. Kristin Johnson, a paramedic with Lewis County
Search & Rescue, testified she was working the overnight shift for
Search & Rescue on the night of the fire when she and her partner were
dispatched to the scene. Ms. Johnson said it is protocol in Lewis County
for an ambulance to be dispatched to the scene of any structure fire upon
dispatch of the fire units.
As the ambulance pulled
up to the scene, facing south on South State Street, Ms. Johnson said she
saw Mr. Exford walking up the street toward the fire in a northernly
direction from Stowe Street. She said she recognized Mr. Exford as she had
numerous prior encounters with him through her employment at Search &
Rescue. Ms. Johnson said she told Mr. Exford that he wouldn’t be able to
get through on that side of the street due to a fire, when he told her he was
just at the apartment house and needed to get back. Ms. Johnson said he
didn’t appear emotional at the time and wasn’t listening to her instructions
at first. He then crossed the street and proceeded north,
Ms. Johnson testified. She said her and her partner then treated Brian Mushtare, who had been rescued from the front porch
roof, and transported Mr. Mushtare to Lewis
County General Hospital.
Under cross-examination
Ms. Johnson testified that she had personally responded to 7525 South State
Street at least 6 times in the year leading up to the fire for alcohol,
drug, and violence related issues. Ms. Johnson’s testimony concluded at
9:20 a.m.
The next witness
to testify was Lowville resident Larry Mutchler, who had known Mr. Exford
for about a year prior to the fire. Prior to testimony, prosecutor Caleb Petzoldt noted that Mr. Mutchler was on probation for
marijuana sales and possession convictions and had not received any
promises or deals in exchange for his testimony.
Mr. Mutchler testified
that on the evening of the fire he heard the fire siren go off and opened
the police and fire scanner app on his phone to see what was going on. When
he learned of the location of the fire, he said he got dressed and walked
up to the fire scene as he knew individuals that lived in the building. He
said he was standing in front of the Lowville Commons building, located
across and just up the street from the apartment house, when Mr. Exford
approached him. He said Mr. Exford had “black stuff” all over him which
prompted him to ask Mr. Exford if he had been at the apartment house, to
which Mr. Exford told him he had not. He said Mr. Exford was acting off,
different than he usually did.
Mr. Mutchler also
testified that approximately two weeks prior to the fire, while mowing his
lawn, he had a conversation with Mr. Exford. During that conversation, he
testified, Mr. Exford talked about wanting to burn down the apartment
building with a candle.
Under
cross-examination, defense attorney John Hallett questioned Mr. Mutchler on
his criminal convictions, with Mr. Mutchler stating that it was fair to say
he had over a dozen. When asked by Mr. Hallett, Mr. Mutchler said he had
used methamphetamine with Mr. Exford on many occasions. When asked where he
noticed the “black stuff” on Mr. Exford, he indicated it was on his
forehead, hands, and pants. Mr. Mutchler’s testimony concluded at 9:33 a.m.
The next witness
to testify was Tristain McGrath, a granddaughter
of Ms. Crego. She said she arrived at her
grandmother’s apartment around 4 p.m. on the afternoon of the fire. She
testified that there were multiple people at the apartment, which wasn’t
unusual, including Mr. Exford.
Ms. McGrath said she
spent some time alone with Mr. Exford that evening, including some time in
Ms. Crego’s bedroom where she said she and Mr.
Exford were intimate. She testified that she had left the apartment a number of times that evening with Mr. Exford, leaving
for the final time by herself at around 11 p.m. When she returned about an
hour later, she said she was in shock as she saw flames and smoke coming
from the building, just as the first fire units were pulling up.
Ms. McGrath said she
saw Mr. Exford was at the scene and talked to him. She said he was acting
emotional and had movies in his hand. He told her he had left to get some
movies and when he returned the building was on fire. Ms. McGrath said she
and Mr. Exford went to a friend’s house around 4 a.m. to sleep and that he
abruptly left when they woke up.
Under
cross-examination, Ms. McGrath said she visited her grandmother’s apartment
often throughout the summer and fall of 2019 and it wasn’t uncommon to see
people in the building doing drugs and/or drinking, although she never
witnessed anyone making meth at the premises. She said Ms. Crego was friendly to Mr. Exford, as she was with
everyone that came to her apartment. Ms. McGrath indicated that she had not
had a sexual relationship with Mr. Exford prior to the night of the fire.
Under re-direct,
Mr. Petzoldt asked what Mr. Exford’s demeanor was
when she left at 11 p.m. to go see another friend. Ms. McGrath said that he
didn’t want her to go and begged her to stay, but she didn’t feel he was
upset.
Ms. McGrath’s
testimony ended at 9:55 a.m. The court then went into recess for the morning
break.
Jospeh Griffin was the
next witness to testify, taking the stand at 10:20 a.m. He said he was
playing darts at Baker’s Bar and Grill, on South State Street in Lowville,
when he heard the fire siren and saw the fire trucks driving by and slowing
down. He said he walked out the door and could see smoke and walked toward
the fire scene. Mr. Griffin made a number of trips
between Baker’s and the fire scene. At one point he encountered Mr. Exford,
who he was familiar with from tending bar at Baker’s, when Mr. Exford asked
him if the bar was still open. He said Mr. Exford ran up to the bar after
he told him it was getting ready to close. Mr. Griffin also returned to Baker’s,
when he said he heard Mr. Exford asking people in the bar if they “could
smell burning flesh on him.” Mr. Griffin said that Mr. Exford’s demeanor
was off that night compared to his usual interactions with him. Mr. Griffin’s
testimony concluded at 10:27 a.m.
The final witness
of the day was Laurie Buckingham, the head bartender at Baker’s Bar and
Grill. Ms. Buckingham said she was working at Baker’s the night of the fire
when she heard the fire siren and saw the fire trucks go by. She said
patrons at the bar told her Ms. Crego’s place was
on fire, which caused her concern as she had good friends that hung out
there quite often. She got no answer when she tried calling her friend and
immediately ran down to the scene of the fire, where the first person she
encountered was Mr. Exford, who was standing in the lawn of a neighboring
house. She said she asked them if her friends were in the apartment, and he
told her no. He was acting anxious and on edge, she testified, and she
screamed at him “are you sure,” to which he responded yes, he was sure. She
said she then went to her friend’s apartment up the street, knocking on the
door until she made contact with them.
Ms. Buckingham
said that after she located and ensured her friends were safe
she went back to the bar, where she later encountered Mr. Exford again.
Jurors were shown surveillance video from the bar from that evening, showing
Mr. Exford at the bar and ordering drinks at 1:27 a.m. She said he paid in
cash and tipped her very well, which was unusual. She said he was also
playing a lot of lottery scratch-off games, purchased from a machine at the
bar, which she had never seen him do.
She said that
during her conversation with Mr. Exford he asked at one point if she could
smell burning flesh on him. She found the statement unusual and it really “pissed
me off,” she said.
Under
cross-examination from Mr. Hallett, Ms. Buckingham said that Mr. Exford was
actually banned from Baker’s, but she allowed him
in that night given the circumstances. He did not appear to be intoxicated
she said. When asked why he was banned from the bar, she said due to
unacceptable behavior- including “beating up on his girlfriend.” Ms.
Buckingham’s testimony concluded at 10:53.
At the conclusion
of Ms. Buckingham’s testimony, presiding Judge Daniel R. King informed told
the jury that she was the last witness prepared to testify today. The trial
was adjourned until 9 a.m. on Monday. Judge King again told jurors he
anticipated that they could have the case in their hands for deliberation
by next Thursday.
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