ARTICLE # 31  

June 1, 1991 - Warren, PA

"Poor lady," a courtroom spectator whispered as a video tape showed where Kathy Wilson's remains were found.

Videos of the Lander-area crime scene and of Falconer, N.Y., locations frequently mentioned during the murder trial of Jay William Buckley were shown to jurors Friday.

Before the jurors were returned to their homes in Beaver County for the weekend, Judge Robert L. Wolfe told them the trial is almost over. He said he was advised that defense testimony should be completed by next Thursday or Friday.

As the trial ended it's fourth week on Friday, Buckley's defense attorney, Barry Lee Smith, elicited testimony on the timing of events on May 18, 1988, based on Michael Brown's prior statements to the jury.

Smith also reviewed aspects of the Chautauqua County, N.Y., Task Force's investigation of the Wilson case with a task force member in an apparent attempt to cast doubt on the handling of the case by police.

Brown, 19, Falconer, N.Y., allegedly saw Buckley kidnap, rape, and murder Wilson, 33, of Jamestown on May 18, 1988. Wilson's skeletal remains were found by children playing in a wooded area off Lindell Rd. in Farmington Township on September 23, 1989. Buckley was charged in October of 1989 with her abduction, rape, and murder. Brown was charged as an accomplice. Last month, through a plea agreement, Brown pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for his testimony against Buckley.

The wooded area off the one lane dirt Lindell Rd. where Wilson's skeletal remains were found is still marked with the signs of police work.

A video presented to the jury showed yellow plastic tape that marked off the rectangular grids police established to search the area. There were also stakes with weather protected notes attached.

The video and others were made by Ronald Cotten, a licensed private investigator hired by Smith for this case. Asked by Smith to read one of the markers for the jury, Cotten said, "Bone something." He paused. "that says 'finger.' I can't make out what that says," he said.

Cotten also took a video of Lindell Rd. while being driven up and down the road. Cotten said that when he talked to Shelly Anderson, she testified she had driven Buckley to a wooded area, she said the road was not dirt.

There is a stop sign where Lindell Rd. intersects with Scranton Hollow Rd. Across the street is a large barn that was in the process of being painted when Cotten took the road video on April 8, 1991.

Anderson had testified she saw a big red barn across the street from a stop sign. Otherwise, she said she didn't know where she was or where she was going when Buckley gave her directions.

Cotten said that based on Brown's testimony, it would take at least 6 hours and 19 minutes to duplicate the events of May 18, 1988, from Falconer, N.Y., to the crime scene off Lindell Rd., and then back to Brown's home.

The only definitive time ever established on May 18 was that Wilson made a transaction at the drive-up window at Marine Midland Bank in Falconer at 12:17 p.m.

Using that time as his start, Cotten said he listed all the lengths of time Brown testified to during his purported activities with Buckley on that day. Cotten said Brown testified they were at the Quality Market in Falconer, where Wilson was allegedly abducted, for five minutes. It took two minutes to get to the Brown family house on Lester St. Cotten proceeded through the day, including two hours for the time Brown said Buckley had left the Brown home that afternoon. While Brown said he and Buckley had driven a longer, less direct route to get to Ed Foster's house, Cotten said he took the shortest route. He said he went the most direct way from point to point, using Brown's testimony and approximate times.

Cotten retraced the route from Foster's house, the gravel pit on Carlsberg Rd., including 20 minutes for the time Brown said they got stuck. Cotten took the shortest route from Kiantone, N.Y., to Akeley, where Brown said he and Buckley had turned around on Rt. 62. Cotten took the Swede Hill Rd. to get to Lindell Rd. He estimated it would take 30 to 45 minutes to rape, and kill Wilson in the wooded area off the Lindell Rd. Cotten's times included the drive back to the Quality Market on Foote Ave., Jamestown, N.Y., for Buckley's phone call and Brown's small store purchase, and the ride back to Brown's house.

"Giving the benefit of the doubt," Cotten said the total travel time from start to end was six hours and 19 minutes.

Smith said that if Buckley was doing everything he is accused of - without Brown's involvement - the earliest time that Buckley could have arrived at his sister Karen Camarata's house in Falconer that day was 2:30 p.m. But with Brown, Smith said, the earliest Buckley could have arrived at his sister's house was 6:30 p.m.

Questioned by District Attorney Joseph A. Massa Jr., Cotten said Buckley arrived at his sister's house before 1:30 p.m. that day.

Cotten agreed with Massa that when Brown testified, all the times were given as approximations because Brown didn't wear a watch.

Detective Joseph Welch of the Jamestown police department was the main afternoon witness as Smith questioned him about how the police handled the Wilson case.

Smith questioned Welch extensively about the numerous suspects police had in the case. These included David Copenheffer, the Corry man convicted of killing Sally Weiner in April 1988, Gary Ericson, two suspects who later committed suicide, Mark Wilson, Kathy's husband, and Chris Brunea, a friend of Mark Wilson.

From the voluminous report the task force gave to Warren-based state police after Buckley and Brown were arrested, Smith had Welch read a police report that noted similarities between the Weiner and Wilson murders. Weiner was murdered almost a month before Wilson's disappearance. In each case, a bank bag was involved. A bank bag was used by Copenheffer to hold a ransom note. Wilson made a business deposit with a bank bag. Both victims drove Dodge Caravan vans. Both victim's purses were missing; Wilson's was recovered the day she disappeared.

Welch said Copenheffer was eliminated as a suspect because he had no knowledge of the area and would have been unable to kidnap Wilson and get back to Corry within a certain time frame.

Welch explained how each suspect was eliminated with the exception of Brunea. "You never really eliminated Chris Brunea as a suspect, is that correct?" Smith asked.

"That's correct," Welch said

Welch was one of the first police to arrive at the Wilson home when Mark Wilson reported his wife was missing. Welch said he had personally eliminated Wilson as a suspect. "In my experience in dealing with people, this is a man (Wilson) who was genuinely concerned with his wife's welfare," he said.

But there were many other police involved in the investigation, Welch said, and Wilson was still a suspect in their minds until Buckley and Brown were arrested.

At one point, Welch became argumentative with Smith. Welch was not the person who headed the task force, he told Smith.

Why, Smith asked, was Welch's name on 60 percent of the task force's report.

"I was assigned to this case," Welch said, "I'm a lowly detective."

Shortly afterwards, Smith asked Welch to read another police report on another suspect. Welch protested that had not prepared the report. "You should call whoever wrote that report," he told Smith, "I didn't investigate that aspect."

Later, Welch acknowledged that after Pennsylvania State Police arrested Brown and Buckley, the task force essentially gave up their investigation on Buckley. Welch had said that Buckley was an early suspect, but Buckley's story to police of what he was doing on May 18, 1988, "checked out."

"You don't want the case back - do you?" Smith asked.

"Yes," Welch said, "I'd like to have it back."

At that point, Wolfe asked to see both Smith and Massa for a sidebar conference. Shortly afterward, Welch was called over to the private conversation.

When Welch returned to the stand, Smith asked him, "What did you mean?"

Welch said he was satisfied with how the case was handled in Pennsylvania. However, he said it has been a long three years and he is concerned that "justice must be served."

Smith said, "You know that Buckley was arrested on Michael Brown's statements and you don't believe Michael Brown?"

"That's correct," Welch said.

Tamara James, Jamestown, was the only other witness Friday. She said she met Brown at a party during the winter of 1989. He had been drinking and was bragging about the Wilson case, she said.

"After we laughed at him, he said she'd (Wilson) be found in a field without her head," James said.

Friday there was also a presentation with court reporter Charles Rapp reading the part of Daniel Drake, Brooksville, Florida, who gave a deposition to Smith and Massa by telephone at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Drake testified he had owned the house in Falconer where Karen Camarata lives. Before moving to Florida eight years ago, he said he worked for a Falconer business that used a bank bag for daily conversions of cash to cashier's checks. He said it was possible that a bank bag could have been left in his former residence.

Camarata testified previously that her son found a bank bag under a cabinet in a storage area while looking for his fishing tackle.