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Opening Statements Presented, Witness Testimony
Begins During Day 2 of Exford Trial
Published: March 08, 2022 at
08:00 p.m.
By: Nick
Altmire
Assistant Lewis County District Attorney Caleb Petzoldt (R) shows Defense Attorney John Hallett a
piece of evidence for submission Tuesday during the Shawn Exford trial.
Lowville, NY- The second day
of the Shawn L. Exford trial is complete, with
jurors hearing opening arguments from both the prosecution and defense this
morning along with the beginning of witness testimony.
Mr. Exford is
accused of intentionally starting a fire inside the stairwell at 7525 S.
State St. in Lowville on November 30, 2019, that claimed the lives of
Catherine Crego and Saratina
Kilbourne.
Things got
underway shortly after 10 this morning, with presiding judge Daniel R. King
taking the first 40 minutes to explain the various stages of the trial to
the 9 women and 3 men of the jury so they would have a clear understanding
of what is taking place. During this time the jury was familiarized with
legal terms they may hear throughout the case and were given instructions
on what can be considered evidence in the case.
“You alone
determine the truthfulness and accuracy of witness testimony,” Judge King
said.
Judge King
informed the jurors that the trial formally begins with an opening
statement from the prosecution, which is required by law. The defense then has the opportunity to present the jury with an opening statement
but is not required to do so by law. After opening arguments, the
prosecution then presents their case, Judge King explained. After the
prosecution closes their case, the defense has an opportunity to present
their case, if desired, but again, are not required to do so.
“The People must
prove all elements of the crime, including that the defendant committed the
crime,” Judge King told the jury. “You must find the defendant not guilty
unless the evidence presented during this trial proves his guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt. If you feel the People have satisfied their burden of
proof, then you must find the defendant guilty.”
Judge King went
on to explain that after both sides had the opportunity to present their
case the trial would then move to closing arguments, also referred to as
summations. Following summations the jury will
then be instructed on the law for each of the 13 counts included in the
indictment before being given the case for deliberation.
“Your conclusion
of the facts is your verdict,” Judge King said. “As jurors you are being
asked to make a very important decision on a member of our community.”
Opening
Statements
Lewis County
Assistant District Attorney Mark Lemieux started the prosecution’s opening
statement around 10:45. He opened by playing a brief 911 call made by Catherine
Crego on November 30, 2019, where she can be
heard frantically yelling that there was a fire, screaming “we can’t get
out.”
“Arson, murder,
reckless endangerment- 8 victims, two lives cut short, an apartment
building destroyed. Evidence will tell the story,” Mr. Lemieux told the
jury.
Mr. Lemieux then
went on to describe the prosecution’s version of events leading up to and
around the time of the fire the evening of November 30, 2019, stating earlier
in the evening Mr. Exford was at Ms. Crego’s apartment,
as he had been many times, drinking and socializing throughout the night
with Ms. Crego, Ms. Kilbourne, and Brian Mushtare, a resident of one of the downstairs
apartments in the building. Ms. Crego’s apartment
was the front apartment on the second floor of the building. Mr. Exford
leaves the apartment alone shortly before midnight, exiting via the only
stairwell, as the jury will see captured on security footage from a camera
located across the street from the apartment building according to Mr.
Lemieux, starting a fire in the hallway before exiting the building and
running into a man walking his dog. Rapid growth of the fire can then be
seen in the security footage, with smoke and fire pouring out just minutes
after Mr. Exford left the building, Mr. Lemieux told jurors.
Mr. Lemieux then
went on to explain each of the 13 counts included in the indictment of Mr.
Exford as a result of the fire. The charges
include four counts of second-degree murder (two counts each for competing
theories for both fire victims) , two counts of
first-degree arson, one count of second-degree arson and six counts of
reckless endangerment.
Mr. Exford’s
actions that night were “a gross deviation from
the standard conduct of a reasonable person,” Mr. Lemieux told the jury,
noting that the charges do not mean that Mr. Exford intended to cause death.
“His actions show utter disregard for human life.”
Mr. Lemieux said
the evidence will show that after leaving the scene of the fire that night,
Mr Exford then walked back to the scene of the
crime before going to a local bar where he ordered drinks. He closed by
again telling the jury that the evidence will tell the story, coming in a
variety of forms, including video, pictures, audio, and testimony.
The prosecution’s
opening statement concluded around 11:10 and was followed by a ten-minute
opening statement from defense attorney John Hallett.
Mr. Hallett
opened by thanking the jury for their service and told them that the prosecution
had done a good job of presenting the allegations in the indictment in an
emotional manner. He reminded jurors that the prosecution must prove each
element of every crime charged.
“You will learn
that on November 29, 2019, Shawn was a 29-year-old man living in Lowville,
where he had just recently moved to stay out of trouble,” Mr. Hallett told
jurors. “He had a serious drinking problem and a serious addiction to
drugs. His father died of a drug overdose when he {Shawn} was 15 and he
then had a stepfather that beat him daily,” Mr. Hallett continued, saying
that with only a 10th-grade education there were no “doors open”
for Mr. Exford.
Mr. Hallett told
the jury that the prosecution will not be able to prove how the fire
started and any lapse in a chain of evidence must be considered reasonable
doubt. Mr. Hallett said that Mr. Exford “thought of and treated Ms. Crego as a grandmother” and would not want to kill her.
Opening
statements concluded around 11:20.
Prosecution’s
Case
Immediately
following the conclusion of the opening statements, the People opened their
case by presenting their first witness. The first witness took the stand at
11:25 and was finished testifying at 11:55. An hour recess was then called
for lunch, with the remaining witnesses testifying after the lunch break.
The first four
witnesses to testify were Karen Koster, Sheldon Koster, Kelly Peters, and Shaun Koster,
all residents of the upper back apartment at 7525 S. State St. who escaped
the fire on the night of November 30, 2019, using the exterior staircase
connected to the back of their apartment.
Karen Koster testified that she lived in the apartment with
her husband Sheldon for over 20 years. Their son Shaun was living with them
at the time of the fire, along with Shaun’s girlfriend- Ms. Peters, and
their children, two of which were home the night of the fire. Shaun Koster was at work at the time of the fire.
All four
testified to the layout of the apartment building, identifying who occupied
each of the four apartments. Karen Koster
testified that Mr. Exford had previously stayed in two of the apartments in
the building, first in a vacant front downstairs apartment and then in Ms. Crego’s apartment, until he was told by Ms. Crego he could no longer stay there.
The fifth witness
called, Jasyn Griffin, testified he was closing up at the Lowville American Legion that night
and heard the fire siren go off and learned the location via scanner
traffic. Mr. Griffin stated that he knew the Koster
family and immediately ran down the street to the scene of the fire, where
he assisted by carrying one of the Koster
children down the back external staircase.
Following Mr.
Griffin’s testimony a brief ten-minute recess was
called, before testimony concluded for the afternoon with the final three
witnesses of the day, Lowville Police Chief Randy Roggie,
Sgt. Richard Knight with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, and Patrolman
Matthew Martin with the Lowville Police Department. Each recounted the
events from that night, detailing which agencies were contacted to assist
as details from the scene became clearer.
Patrolman Martin
testified that he was instructed to locate Mr. Exford that evening for a
witness statement, when he observed Mr. Exford walking south on S. State
St. in the early morning hours of December 1st. Mr. Exford agreed to give a witness
statement, saying he was at Ms. Crego’s apartment
on the night of November 30, leaving around 11:20 p.m. to go to his
apartment to get movies. When he returned with the movies
he saw fire coming from the front of the building, according to the witness
statement.
Sgt. Knight
testified to the chain of custody on evidence collected from the scene and
from Mr. Exford that he “hand delivered” to the New York State Police Crime
Lab in Albany.
Testimony is set
to resume in the trial at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
When following media
coverage of the trial note that the following media organizations have a
reporter in the courtroom covering the trial: linkinglewiscounty.com,
WWNY/7 News, and NNY360/Watertown Daily Times.
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