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Mother weepsas jury sees tapeof her son’s bodyBy Jim O'HaraStaff WriterJurors in the Roland Patnode trial saw David McLaughlin's decomposing body Thursday on avideotape made as police unearthed the remains last year*McLaughlin's mother sat sobbing in the courtroom. huddied in the arms of her daughter as seven minutes of the tape were played Thursday afternoon.The portion of the tape played in court showedstate police investigate rs uncovering McLaughlin's shoulder, arm and leg as they dug up the remains from a shallow grave inside a barn in the Madison County community of West-Eaton.Chief Assistant District Attorney John Duncan had agreed in advance not to play the remainder of Lhe tape showing investigators removing the victim's decomposing body from the small pit.Duncan was expected to conclude the prosecution case against Patnode today with testimony from the county medical examiner about how McLaughlin was killed. Dr. Erik Mitchell was expected to explain to the jury how Lhe 22-year-old victim died as a result of being stabbed twice in the throat and once in the lower hack.Pai node. 23. of Massena, is charged with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the Oct. 1 slaying.McLaughlin's body was not found until Nov. 10, when Patnode was arrested in North Carolina and told police where he had buried the victim.Stephen Charzuk Jr., a photographer with the New York State Police, testified he went to the barn in West Eaton that evening to videotape the scene and the removal of the victim’s remains.The first portion of the tape simply showed the outside of the barn and the surrounding property. It then proceeded to show an overview of the inside of the barn.For several minutes, though, the jurors watched as the tape showed state police investigators using rakes to gingerly pull away debris and dirt piled on top of the body.Charzuk said there was about 1 Vz inches of dirt, hay and manure pulled away before the investigators found the first signs of McLaughlin’s body.“As you can see, we didn't have to dig down very far, only a couple of inches,” he said as the tape played in the darkened courtroom.The jurors then saw an officer lift up a board that was found beneath the dirt and debris.“There were some pieces of wood on top of the body that had to be removed,” Charzuk said.A lighter object then became visible on the tape.“We uncovered the victim's left shoulder,” the witness said. “The victim was lying on his right side curled up in a fetal position.”The tape went on as officers continued gently pulling away the surrounding dirt by hand.As Charzuk pointed out the victim's left arm and left leg were being uncovered, defense attorney James Meggesto suggested that was the place to stop the tape, and County Court Judge Patrick J. Cunningham agreed.Duncan then had Charzuk identify eight stfil photographs that were taken by another officer of* MOTHER, Page B2— — »■ 1 ■ * **«—ROLAND PATNODE
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Herald Journal
Syracuse, New York, US
Fri, Jul 24, 1987
Page 40
Full Page
Clipped by
Chad G.
USA 01 May 2023
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