Published: September 16, 2008 07:31 am      

Wlasiuk truck tracks debated

Officer, bartender quote conversations

By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau

NORWICH _With testimony Monday from law enforcement officials and a former bartender, Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride sought to convince jurors that Peter Wlasiuk murdered his wife 6½ years ago. But Wlasiuk’s attorney, Randel Scharf of Cooperstown, continued to peck away at the prosecution’s case, suggesting his client was framed.

According to Mc- Bride, Peter Wlasiuk smothered Patricia Wlasiuk at their Oxford home, then staged an accident by sending her body down an embankment into Guilford Lake in the back of their 1999 GMC pickup truck.

Patricia Wlasiuk’s body was found in the lake at about 1 a.m., April 3, 2002. Police have said her black Motorola pager was found in the truck bed when the vehicle was winched out of the water.

Peter Wlasiuk says his wife was driving and he was riding as they went to pick up their three children at the home of their baby sitter, Joyce Worden, shortly after midnight. According to Wlasiuk’s signed statement, a deer jumped in front of the truck, causing Patricia to swerve off county Route 35 and into the lake.

Not long after the tragic incident, however, police suspected it was no accident. Deputy Dwight Meade, first officer on the scene that morning, found tire tracks on the shoulder on the far side of the road. Those tracks appeared to arc gradually toward the spot where the truck plunged into the lake. Monday’s first witness, Chenango County Detective Sergeant Richard Cobb, said he traced those tracks, which disappeared near the center of the road, but seemed to continue as impressions in the grass on the lake side.

``Was that a slow, continuous curve?’’ McBride asked.

``Yes,’’ said Cobb, an advanced accident investigator. ``Was there any evidence that the vehicle went into the lake to avoid a deer?’’ ``No, sir,’’ said Cobb, adding that he found no rubber on pavement nor shredded grass that would come from skidding. Cobb said a vehicle could not have been traveling more than 30 miles per hour to have left the tracks he observed, whereas Wlasiuk has said his wife was driving 56 miles per hour.

``If someone got out of the truck by the edge of the road, and put it in drive, would it go down the slope into the lake?’’ the district attorney asked.

``Based on my training and experience, yes; it’s a slope of 27 degrees,’’ said Cobb.

Under cross examination from Scharf, Cobb noted he is not certified as an accident reconstructionist and this was his first investigation of this type of accident. Cobb said he worked on the case with Norwich City Patrolman Craig Berry, who is an accident reconstructionist. On April 8, 2002, they placed the discovered pager in a pan of water to see if it would float, he said in response to questions from Scharf. ``Did you receive any training in dunking evidence?’’ asked Scharf.

McBride objected and presiding judge Martin Smith ruled that the question was improper.

Corrections Officer Tonya Schoals testified that after Wlasiuk was arrested, she overheard a conversation between him and his mother in which he said, ``If I’d thought about what I did before I did it, I wouldn’t be in jail.’’’ “The way you’re saying that, does `did’ mean `kill his wife?’’’ asked Scharf. Schoals said she was just repeating what she’d heard.

Lorraine Cornish of Bainbridge, who worked for the Wlasiuks at their Guilford bar, the Angel Inn, said Peter was angry and swearing after two telephone calls from his wife the day before she died. Under cross examination, Cornish said she didn’t disclose this information to police until this year, although she was interviewed April 4, 2002, and April 23, 2002.

``Why didn’t you tell police about the phone calls?’’ Scharf asked. ``He told us not to talk to the police,’’ said Cornish. ``Did you write to Peter after he was arrested?’’ ``One letter,’’ she said. Scharf produced two personal letters, and she acknowledged writing them.

``Did you file a complaint this year that Peter’s father was stalking you?’’ he asked. Cornish said she had complained to police about Wlasiuk’s father, Thomas Wlasiuk of Oxford, who has custody of Peter’s three girls, stalking her at Bainbridge Guilford Central School, among other places. The girls attend the school.

At about the time she filed this complaint, she told police about telephone calls from more than six years ago, she said. Monday’s proceedings ended where today’s are scheduled to begin, with Chenango County Lieutenant James Lloyd being cross-examined by Scharf. Lloyd, the prosecution’s 32nd witness, said it was clear to him early on that Patricia Wlasiuk was murdered.