Murder scene details revealed by two State Police investigators who testified in the Adam Smith murder trial

CANTON — Two State Police investigators testified on the third day of the Adam Smith murder trial, detailing what they found at the murder scene of Ronald “Huck” Durham.

Smith is accused of murdering Ronald “Huck” Durham on February 11, 2023, and William Freeman on March 2, 2023.

Inspector Turkstra was one of the first to arrive at the scene

Investigator Jennifer Turkstra began the afternoon session on October 24 by asking questions about his background and education, and continued with his response to the crime scene where Ronald Durham was killed.

He said he had been employed by the New York State Police for more than eight years, the last two of which he served as an investigator.

Turkstra said he received training in many areas, including crime scene technology, specialized computer crimes training, polygraph training, search warrant training, ghost gun training and other specialized training related to the investigation of various crimes.

Turkstra said he was first called in on Feb. 11 to help conduct interviews with witnesses and family members. He also said he spoke with Smith on the phone and in person.

The first conversation took place on February 12, 2023, at 10:26 a.m., when he called Smith at his office at SP Gouverneur.

He said he discussed “Smith’s activities on February 11.”

“He told me he returned from Syracuse early in the morning on February 11th. I believe he said he went to Stewart’s before 5 a.m. to meet a friend, Ronald Durham,” he said.

Surveillance footage from Stewart’s showed that Smith was not actually in the store when Durham and Eric Fisher were there.

Turkstra said Smith told him he was “seeing a girlfriend” in Syracuse at the time.

After missing Durham at the Stewarts, Smith allegedly told Turkstra that he “went over to the house to help his roommate, I guess, fix a water pipe and do some sort of home repair.”

Turkstra later said he interviewed Smith at his home on February 27, while Dan Durham was also there.

He said the meeting took place in the kitchen or dining area of ​​the house.

Turkstra described Durham as “an elderly gentleman in poor health.”

“Every time I interviewed him he was just sitting in the same position. “He had a walker and was on oxygen,” he said.

In Turkstra’s statement about his interview with Smith, Smith called Ronald Durham “good friends” and said “they talked every day.”

“We would have coffee together most mornings at Stewart’s in Gouverneur, New York. He would call me most mornings to see if I was awake so we could meet for coffee. “On February 10, 2023, I was visiting my girlfriend in Syracuse, New York,” the statement reads.

Smith claimed that his girlfriend did not have a working phone at the time and was looking for a new home on February 10.

He said he left his home around 2.30am on February 11 and arrived in Gouverneur a few hours later.

He claims he went to Stewart’s “to see Huck and have coffee,” but said he was informed he already missed Durham.

When he returned home, he helped his roommate with chores and left for South Colton for work at 5:23 a.m.

“I was working under the table on Brandon Chase’s construction. “There was no work at the site, so I took the truck to Cortland to pick up Brandon,” the affidavit reads.

Smith claimed in his statement that he would help Durham fix his house while Durham helped him “with cigarettes and gas here and there.”

“He would pay for the materials and I would do the work. He wouldn’t pay me as an employee. I knew he had money in his pocket. That’s how he paid for my cigarettes and stuff. “According to the statement, I didn’t know how much he was carrying,” he said.

“That’s the end of the statement,” Turkstra said.

Turkstra confirmed that Smith signed the statement without reading it, saying he “didn’t want to, so he trusted us to write it.”

Investigator Tyler testifies for two days

Turkstra was on the witness stand for approximately 30 minutes, while Investigator Mark Tyler of the New York State Police was on the stand for approximately two and a half hours throughout October 24 and 25.

Tyler, an 11-year State Police veteran, has been an investigator for nearly two years.

During cross-examination, Tyler confirmed that the murder of Ronald Durham was in fact the first murder he had investigated as an Investigator.

After receiving a call at 8:24 a.m. from then-Officer Leah Malbeuf, now Sgt., Tyler said he soon drove to East Riverside Cemetery “in his business attire” in his government-issued black Chevy Impala.

When he arrived at the scene, Tyler said he saw two State Police vehicles parked in the cemetery next to the pickup belonging to Ronald Durham.

He said he approached the scene and found “numerous bloody boot prints near the body,” while also noticing a significant neck wound and a large pool of blood around Durham’s body.

Tyler said he then began documenting the scene while wearing rubber gloves “so as not to contaminate the crime scene or any evidence.”

He said he entered Durham’s truck only to begin photographing the interior, at which time he found some blood in the cab of the truck, including the glove compartment.

When asked if Barrett was “spraying” blood, Tyler said he wasn’t.

Barrett also questioned why Tyler entered the vehicle this way. Tyler said he wanted to start documenting the scene, knowing the Criminal Investigations Unit was probably two hours away. That unit is headquartered in Ray Brook, Tyler said.

While conducting the initial investigation, Tyler said he spoke with Leroy and Jeffrey Therratt, who both worked at a family member’s home across the road.

Both Tharretts allowed Tyler to take photos of their boot soles so investigators could figure out whose footprints were at the scene.

Following investigation, Tyler said he visited a boot store in Gouverner on Feb. 16 and eventually matched the bloody boot print found on Durham’s body to a specific model of Georgia boot sold at the store.

“Have you contacted Georgia Boot Company to see how many pairs they sold to that store?” Barrett asked.

“No, I didn’t,” Tyler replied.

Tyler also mentioned a “bloody fist mark” in the snow next to Durham.

He said the print was between Durham and a bench near several grave sites and stood out from the moment he arrived on the scene.

When Pasqua asked if the fingerprint came from someone “cleaning a knife or other weapon,” Tyler said it was very possible.

The tire tracks at the scene were also questioned by Barrett, who asked Tyler if he had ever checked the tread pattern of the vehicles the Tarretts were driving.

“No, I never did,” Tyler said.

The Tarretts previously testified that when they were asked to check on Durham, family members walked from his home to the cemetery and his body was eventually found.

Tire marks were also found under Durham’s legs, but there were no visible injuries on his legs.

After passing through Pasqua again, Tyler explained that it was obvious the tire tracks existed before the Durham murder.

Light snow covered the area the night before, making it easy to see which tracks are new and which are old, Tyler said.

Barrett also took some time to question correspondence between Tyler and Investigator Michael Manor, with whom Tyler said he was intimate.

In one text, Barrett questioned what they meant when they said “we always figure this shit out.”

“He was just saying we always get to the bottom of things,” Tyler said.

Barrett continued to question Tyler about his relationship with his fellow officers and what he meant by “klan” in a text.

Tyler said it was a term he used in the text to describe the Financial Intelligence Unit at Ray Brook, but that it was not a common term used throughout the department.

He also noted that the term “thin gray line” referred to fallen officers who came before them at Barrett’s direction.

“So you have a close-knit group in your barracks, right?” Barrett asked.

“Yeah, I would say that,” Tyler replied.

“You also referred to the Investigator Mansion as your brother, right?” said Barrett.

Tyler said it’s common for police officers to refer to each other that way because they are “brothers in law enforcement.”

Barrett took the time to question Tyler’s role in the investigation from its beginning to Smith’s arrest.

Tyler said he began taking photographs at the scene, conducted interviews and helped collect evidence, including Durham’s phone, which was found on a bridge a few days later.

Barrett asked Tyler if he was involved in the Smith interrogation, and he answered yes.

“Were you asked to abandon the interrogation?” Barrett asked.

“I wasn’t asked to leave, but at one point I did,” Tyler said.

“Is it common for investigators to leave mid-interrogation?” Barrett asked.

“That’s not unusual, no,” Tyler replied.

“You were angry when you interrogated him, weren’t you?” said Barrett.

Tyler said during questioning that he wasn’t angry.

“Did you hit your hand on the table?” Barrett asked.

Tyler said he might have hit the table, but showed that it probably wasn’t a heavy “slam” on the table as described.

As for the disciplinary record, Barrett questioned the Council Letter issued in 2015, when Tyler was a cop.

In just his first year of service, Tyler said he worked on a manhunt that occurred after two inmates escaped from Dannemora State Prison.

Tyler said he actually gave a traffic ticket to a young woman, but she didn’t give it on time.

The young woman then appeared in court as instructed, but the sentence was not properly handed down to the court.

Tyler said he was issued a Letter of Council regarding the situation but has not received any further disciplinary action since.

Tyler completed his testimony around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 25, after being on the stand for approximately two and a half hours over two days.

Judge Storie held the hearing for the day after Pasqua informed Storie that he could not complete the cross-examination of the next witness in the remaining 30 minutes of the day.

The hearing will take place on Monday, October 28, at 9.30 a.m. in St. It will continue in Lawrence District Court.