LESLIE TRUMBULL (Observed Purse at Akeley Intersection) | ||
| Vol - - (#20) pp. 85 - 91 | Friday, May 24, 1991 | Jenny Cataldo |
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w20_lt.html
This is the testimony on Friday, May 24, 1991 of Leslie Trumbull, a carpenter who observed a light colored purse along Route 62 just north of the Akeley intersection between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. on May 18, 1988. The very simple, straightforward facts of this testimony utterly and completely blows away the entire story presented by Michael Brown. Unless you think Mr. Trumbull was lying, or mistaken - or that there was another purse laying here that he saw. One that then disappeared or was substituted for by Kathy Wilson's purse - between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m. on May 18, 1988. The only mystery here is what the hell were the authorities - specifically, Trooper John Herzog - trying to do with all these stories they were encouraging Michael Brown to tell regarding the activities of the afternoon of May 18, 1988? |
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(In-camera proceedings were concluded at 1:20 p.m. to commence in open court at 1:30 p.m.)
MR. SMITH: Call Leslie Trumbull to the stand, Your Honor.
LESLIE TRUMBULL, called as a witness, was sworn and examined, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. SMITH:
Q. Please state your name and address for the record.
A. Leslie Trumbull R.D. 2, Russell, Pennsylvania.
Q. You are going to have to keep your voice up. It's hard to hear in the courtroom. Are you currently employed?
A. Yes, I work for WCA Hospital in Jamestown.
Q. Let me draw your attention back to 5-18-88. Were you working at WCA Hospital on that date?
A. No.
Q. Where were you working on that date?
A. I was laid off at the time. I was doing a carpenter job on my own.
Q. Where were you doing the carpenter job at?
A. In North Warren.
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Q North Warren, Pennsylvania? On that date did you have the opportunity to drive a vehicle on Route 62?A Yes.
Q Approximately what time did you drive the vehicle on Route 62?
A Approximately between 2:00 and 2:45 in the afternoon.
Q Where were you doing from and to?
A I was going from the job I had finished up that day to my home.
Q When you were operating the vehicle on that day did you notice anything unusual alongside the road?
A Yes, I saw a light colored purse.
Q Did you stop?
A No, I did not.
Q Why not?
A I had a load of drywall on my truck that I had picked up earlier for the job that I was going to do the next day, and it was raining and I wanted to get home before it got wet.
Q Let me show you a map that is identified as Commonwealth's Exhibit No. 26 and ask you if you recognize the location on the map.
A Yes, I believe that's the intersection of Route 62 and Akeley, Pennsylvania.
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Q Do you recollect where you observed the purse at on that date?A Yes, it was approximately where that red "X" is.
Q Right here (indicating)?
A Yes.
Q And you were driving which way?
A I was going northbound.
Q Up this way on 62 (indicating)?
A Yes.
Q Did you turn in here at all?
A I did not.
Q Did you report that to the police?
A Yes. A few day later, I don't recall the date, but I heard something on the radio to the effect that a purse had been seen or picked up in that area, and they were asking anyone that had seen it or knew anything about it to phone the police, so I called the Jamestown police and told them I had seen it.
DEX129
(Document marked Defendant's Exhibit No. 129.)
MR. SMITH: Move for admission of Defendant's Exhibit 129, police report dated 5-25-88.
MR. MASSA: No objection.
THE COURT: Dated what?
MR. SMITH: 5-25-88.
THE COURT: Admitted.
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BY MR. SMITH:Q Mr. Trumbull, you told me you don't have your glasses with you. Let me read your report to you, and it's written by Donald Landquist, Jamestown Police Department. It says the following: At approximately 1610 hours ths date I received a phone call from Leslie Trumbull, Stateline Road, R.D. 1 Russell. Pennsylvania, and it gives your phone number. He said he was driving on Route 62 on May 18, 1988, between 2:00 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., and he saw a light purse just off the wrote (sic) in the gravel area just past the Akeley turnoff. Mr. Trumbull is a carpenter and is at work now. He would not come to the Jamestown Police Department now and he didn't know when he could. Was that the statement you gave to police?
A Yes.
Q Did you tell them you would contact them within the next few days?
A Now that, I may have done that, but whoever it was I was talking to said that someone would contact me in a few days, and I did a couple days later, or I don't know how many days later, someone from, I believe, the Chautauqua County Sheriff's's Department called me and asked me the same questions I had given the answers to on that, and that was the only contact I have had with anyone up there.
Q Since May of 1988 have you ever talked to Trooper
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Herzog, Pennsylvania State Police, in this case?A No, never.
Q Mr. Massa?
A No.
Q Have you been contacted by any police officials in Pennsylvania?
A Not until two days ago.
Q Who contacted you?
A Mr. Tridico. He came to see me at work.
Q Did you tell him the same thing you testified to?
A Yes, I did.
Q How are you sure it was between 2:00 and 2:45?
A I finished up a job in Warren, and I know that I finished it up early, and I went, like I said, and got some drywall and was taking it home, and my wife works at the Russell School, and I have the habit, whenever I go home early, that I call her at work to let her know that I am home, and I called her prior to 3:00, so I know it had to be in that time period.
Q So based on your wife not getting out of school yet, you know it had to be before she left school, right?
A Yes.
Q Have you ever met me before?
A No, no sir.
Q You talked to my investigator, Mr. Cotton, right?
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A I talked to him on the telephone, and he came to my house, and I did talk to you on the phone one time.Q Do you know Mr. Buckley?
A No, I do not.
Q Do you know the victim in this case, Kathy Wilson?
A No, I do not.
Q Any reason you can think you would come here and not tell the truth for any reason?
A Absolutely not.
MR. SMITH: No further questions.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. MASSA:
Q Good afternoon, Mr. Trumbull. I have a few questions here. Do you wear glasses, you say?
A I wear glasses for reading only. I do not need glasses to drive or anything like that.
Q And you were not wearing glasses on this particular date?
A At that time I did not wear glasses at all.
Q Was the purse opened or closed?
A I would have to say it was closed.
Q What was the condition of the purse?
A I don't know.
Q What were the contents of the purse.
A I have no idea.
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Q Was it wet or dry?A It was raining, so I wold assume it was wet.
Q You said you were in what type of a vehicle?
A A truck, pickup truck.
Q Was anyone else in the vehicle with you?
A No.
Q Why didn't you stop to pick up the purse?
A Pardon?
Q Why did you not stop and pick up the purse?
A Well, I don't know if I would have anyway, but it was raining that day and I had a load of drywall on my truck, and I was trying to get home before it got too wet.
Q You never held the purse in your hands?
A I did not, no.
MR. MASSA: No further questions.
MR. SMITH: Nothing further.
THE COURT: You may step down.
MR. SMITH: Call Vickie Hallberg to the stand.
VICKIE HALLBERG, called as a witness, was sworn and examined, testified as follows:
MR. MASSA: May counsel approach the bench?
(Off-the-record discussion at sidebar.)
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. SMITH: Mrs. Hallberg, you have been here before?
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