A Stranger Killed Katy by William D. LaRue

Author:William D. LaRue
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: William D. LaRue
Published: 2021-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Looming over the marble-lined witness stand in the St. Lawrence County courtroom is a giant mural of the mythical figure of Justitia. Also known as Lady Justice, she is a symbol of the right of every defendant to a fair trial. After McCarthy seated himself on the stand, he had a much better view, though, of an inscription on the rear wall displaying an alternate definition of justice: “He threatens the innocent who spares the guilty.”

The Watertown Daily Times would note it was the first time in recent memory that someone accused of murder took the witness stand in St. Lawrence County.

A defendant testifying at a preliminary hearing is considered a risky strategy. Should the case go to trial, the prosecution could use what McCarthy said at the hearing to cast doubt on his credibility if he took the stand again and gave a differing version of events. Nash decided this was a risk worth taking, now that his other witnesses largely had failed to corroborate that McCarthy had been consuming mass quantities of drugs and alcohol before the attack.

After taking an oath swearing to tell the truth, McCarthy offered his own version of events on August 28 and 29. While Lopez testified that he showed up at McCarthy’s residence at about 2 p.m. and that neither one consumed drugs during the day, McCarthy recalled it was closer to 11 a.m. And not only did he smoke marijuana in Lopez’s presence, McCarthy said, they did so together.

“He asked me about some pot I had, and I showed him probably five or six different bags that I had,” McCarthy said. “He asked me if I had any good pot, and I showed it to him, and he said, ‘Let’s smoke it,’ and we did, approximately fifteen dollars’ worth.”

“For us uninitiated individuals,” Nash asked drily, “will you tell us what fifteen dollars’ worth of good pot quantity-wise is?”

“About seven and a half grams,” McCarthy answered. That was enough for up to 14 marijuana joints, depending on how someone rolled it.

After smoking pot, McCarthy said, he accompanied Lopez and Lopez’s wife to a small store in Massena. They bought a 12-pack of beer, possibly Busch, and then drove near Winthrop, where they stopped at a store and purchased another 12-pack, plus cheese curd and pepperoni. McCarthy said he and Lopez consumed both 12-packs, except for one or two cans that Lopez’s wife drank. McCarthy didn’t specify how many of the cans each of the men drank.

At about 2:30 p.m., McCarthy said, the three arrived at the North Lawrence property owned by Lopez, where the two men smoked more marijuana and discussed clearing the land. While there, Lopez’s friend Randy offered to sell the car he was driving “because he said he had another one on the way,” McCarthy said.

The four then headed back to Massena, where they dropped off Lopez’s wife. The three men then headed to the Madrid camp where McCarthy was staying.

“What did you do there?” Nash asked.

“Smoked some pot, and we left to go to the hotel in Madrid.

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